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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29157852">Can't Help Falling For You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilchild24/pseuds/devilchild24'>devilchild24</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Smut, Protective Jughead Jones, Protective Sweet Pea (Riverdale), Soft Sweet Pea (Riverdale), Veronica Lodge Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:12:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,096</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29157852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilchild24/pseuds/devilchild24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Veronica was technically a Southsider. You know, those ‘hooligans’ that live on the Southside of Riverdale. She was a Southside Serpent by blood. Her father was none other than the Serpent King, FP Jones. Crazy, right? Veronica was born on the Southside, all 7.4 pounds of her. She was living a great life with her family. She loved her dad. She loved her mom. And most of all, she loved her twin brother, Forsythe Pendleton “Jughead” Jones III.<br/>Her happy, perfect, amazing life then turned into reality when her mom, Hermione Gomez (now Lodge), and dad, FP Jones, broke off their engagement and went their separate ways two days after Veronica’s and her brother’s fourth birthday. Hermione whisked Veronica away to the Northside where she believed they would be safe and happy, while FP kept their son, Jughead. When the twins re-unite when the Southside kids transfer to Riverdale High, Veronica can't help but fall for a certain tall, dark haired, neck-tattooed Serpent.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Betty Cooper &amp; Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom &amp; Veronica Lodge, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, FP Jones II/Hermione Lodge, Fangs Fogarty/Kevin Keller, Hermione Lodge/Hiram Lodge, Josie McCoy/Sweet Pea (dont worry its for like 2 seconds), Jughead Jones &amp; Veronica Lodge, Kevin Keller &amp; Veronica Lodge, Veronica Lodge &amp; Fangs Fogarty, Veronica Lodge &amp; Toni Topaz, Veronica Lodge/Sweet Pea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. There is one pain I often feel, which is caused by the absence of you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys!!! So this is my first fanfic ever (that explains why it's so bad), so please tell me how it is in the comments! If you like it, please leave kudos! As much as I want you to stay and stick along through the journey, I'm gonna warn you, there is a LOT of Jeronica sibling moments. So if you hate Jeronica, even as siblings, then I suggest you leave. But don't worry, there will still be lots of SweetVee ;)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Veronica leaned against her metal locker, closing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. A very deep one. She wrung her hands together, biting her lip nervously as the sound of kids shuffling through their lockers and chatting loudly with their friends entered her ears. </p><p>     Today was a very nerve wracking -yet important- day for Veronica Cecilia Jones. What was happening today? </p><p>     The Southsiders were coming to Riverdale High.</p><p>     Veronica was technically a Southsider. You know, those <em> ‘hooligans’ </em>that live on the Southside of Riverdale. </p><p>     She was a Southside Serpent by blood. Her father was none other than the Serpent King, FP Jones. Crazy, right? </p><p>     Veronica was born on the Southside, all 7.4 pounds of her.</p><p>      She was living a great life with her family. She loved her dad. She loved her mom. And most of all, she loved her twin brother, Forsythe Pendleton “Jughead” Jones III.</p><p>     Her happy, perfect, amazing life then turned into reality when her mom, Hermione Gomez (now Lodge), and dad, FP Jones, broke off their engagement and went their separate ways two days after Veronica’s and her brother’s fourth birthday. </p><p>     Hermione whisked Veronica away to the Northside where she believed they would be safe and happy, while FP kept their son, Jughead. </p><p>    She tried to explain to Veronica that her and FP weren’t meant to be, and after long hours of crying and sleepless nights for Veronica, she slowly understood the fact that everyone couldn’t have a perfect fairy tale life. </p><p>     <em> “Mija, please stop crying. You know I hate it when you cry.” Hermione sat down next to Veronica and rubbed her back soothingly, though it did little comfort to Veronica.  </em></p><p>
  <em>      “If you hate it when I cry then why did you leave daddy? You knew I would cry. Why did you drag me here away from the people who actually love me?” 4 year old Veronica retorted, bawling hysterically.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Veronica, me and your daddy weren’t meant to be. We were holding each other down. This was for our own good.” Hermione sighed.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Maybe it was for your own good, but it wasn’t for mine! You’re so selfish! You didn’t think what would happen to me! Why couldn’t you leave me and Jug out of your problems?! </em>
</p><p>     When Veronica turned 5 years old, she went to a sophisticated private school in Greendale, where all the rich bratty kids went. She hated it there. She just wanted to go to a normal school in Riverdale, where she could make friends who didn’t act like the whole world needed to kneel down before them.</p><p>     <em> “Hi, can I sit here?” Veronica asked nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling softly at the blonde haired girl who had an empty seat next to her.  </em></p><p>
  <em>      “Aren’t you that girl from Riverdale?” She questioned, narrowing her eyes at Veronica. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Um, yeah.” Veronica shifted her weight onto her other foot, biting her lip.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Seat’s taken.” </em>
</p><p>      When Veronica was 8 years old, the day she’s dreaded all her life came. Her mom married someone else. She moved on. Veronica absolutely despised her step-father, Hiram Lodge. He was a cruel criminal who would do <em> anything </em>to make things go his way. For some reason, he felt like everyone on the Southside was just a stupid, low-life thug. He was absolutely against the idea of Veronica visiting her brother every weekend.</p><p>     <em> “Veronica? Can you please come here? I need to talk to you.” Hermione called from the living room </em></p><p>
  <em>      “Coming Mom!” Veronica slid into the living room on the tiles with socks on her feet, laughing wildly. “Oh, hi Mr. Lodge.” She quietly said, taking her socks off when she saw her mom’s horrible, mean, scary boyfriend sitting down. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “We have some news for you.” Hiram said, sharing a knowing look with Hermione. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Yeah?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “We’re getting married!” Hermione exclaimed happily, showing off the diamond on her finger.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      Veronica froze, not even breathing. Her mom? Getting married? She couldn’t believe this. No, no, no, no, no. She looked at Hiram, hoping she had laser-eye vision so that she could slice off his head. He stared at Veronica, no emotion on his face. It sent chills through her body.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      Veronica took in a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her face. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Yay.” </em>
</p><p>     Whenever Veronica visited Jughead, she would have the best time. They would hang out at Pop’s, talk about their life, prank random people on the street, and so much more. Whenever she was with Jughead, Veronica felt like she could be the true version of herself.  She could unleash her fun, wild, Southside inner self. After the day was over, she would have to go back to being the rich, sophisticated, never-seen-in-anything-but-a-tight-and-uncomfy-dress girl everyone thought she was. </p><p>     <em> “Ready? Aim. Fire!” Jughead whisper-yelled from their spot on the roof at Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe. Veronica and Jughead mercilessly hurled mashed potatoes at a group of teens chatting loudly outside the diner, getting it all over their clothes and in their hair.  </em></p><p>
  <em>      “AHHHHH!” The teens screamed as gooey mashed potatoes hit their bare skin, having no idea where the mashed potatoes were coming from. By the time all the mashed potatoes were used, the teens were already piled into their cars and driving away, covered head to toe in mashed potatoes. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Haha yesss!!” Veronica cheered in victory, giving her brother a high five, sending mashed potatoes flying everywhere. </em>
</p><p>     Day by day, Hiram brainwashed Hermione into thinking that Jughead was going to convince Veronica to leave Riverdale and run away somewhere together. Hermione believed it. Veronica was barely allowed to see Jughead anymore. It went from every week to once a month, once a month to once in two months, once in two months to once in six months, and once in six months to once every year for Veronica’s and Jughead’s birthday. </p><p>     <em> “What?! I can only see Jughead once a year??!!” </em></p><p>
  <em>      “I’m sorry Mija, it’s just too dangerous on the Southside.” Hermione tried to explain. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “But we don’t even go to the Southside!! We meet at Pop’s!” Veronica cried, trying to reason with her mother. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “You don’t understand, he’s from the Southside.” Hiram cut in, glaring at Veronica. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “So am I!” </em>
</p><p>     Obviously, Veronica didn’t follow those orders. She and her brother continued to secretly meet and have the time of their lives while Hermione and Hiram thought that she was studying at a friend’s house. </p><p>     <em> Veronica tiptoed out of the house, silent as a mouse. She absolutely </em> <b> <em>could not </em> </b> <em> risk having Hiram find out what she was doing.  </em></p><p>
  <em>      “Mija?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      Veronica cringed and slowly turned on her heel to be met with her mother, looking at her suspiciously.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Where are you going?” Hermione narrowed her eyes at Veronica.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Um, a friend’s house to study.” Veronica said the line that she practiced in front of her mirror for hours and gestured to the book bag slung on her shoulder. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Which friend?” Hermione dug deeper. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “A girl at my school named Mia. She also lives in Riverdale.” Veronica lied through her teeth. She did not like lying to her mom, but what else could she do? </em>
</p><p>     When Veronica was 10 years old, Hiram and Hermione uncovered the truth. Hiram was absolutely furious. She was sent away to a boarding school in New York City, where she grieved and sulked for 5 years. After a long time of convincing, Veronica’s dream came true. Maybe Hermione felt some sympathy for her daughter, maybe she snapped out of the hypnotic state Hiram put her in, Veronica had no idea, but she could care less. She was coming back home.</p><p>
  <em>      Veronica’s phone rang loudly, startling Veronica and causing her to jump.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Please be Jughead, please be Jughead, please be Jughead” she whispered under her breath while slowly picking up the phone. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      She groaned and rolled her eyes when she saw ‘Mom’ flashing on the screen accompanied by a picture of her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Yes?” Veronica didn’t even try to fake cheerfulness.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Why do you seem so dull? You should be happy that I’m giving you a second chance.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “What do you mean?” Veronica sat up straighter, fully alert.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Hiram and I have decided to let you come back to Riverdale!” Hermione said through the phone and Veronica couldn’t have been happier. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Thank you so much! Yesss! I love you, you're the best!” Veronica continued singing praises of her mother, causing Hermione to chuckle from the other end of the phone. </em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>     When Veronica came back 2 months ago, she still wasn’t allowed to see her brother. Even after 5 years. Hiram knew that she would sneak out to try and meet him, so he had a ‘chauffeur’ waiting for her when she got home. Veronica wasn’t dumb enough to believe Andre was a chauffer. She knew he was keeping a close eye on her. There was no way she could go see Jughead without getting caught by her stupid ‘chauffeur’. </p><p>
  <em>      “Veronica, this is Andre.” Hiram gestured to a tall brunette man who was wearing a stone expression, similar to Hiram’s usual one. “He will be your chauffeur. And remember, you aren’t allowed to go anywhere without him.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      Veronica sighed, knowing there was no way to shake off Andre. “Ok.” </em>
</p><p>     Veronica was joined into Riverdale High, where she quickly developed strong friendships with multiple people. </p><p>
  <em>      Veronica entered the big building, not as big as the private school in Greendale she went to for grade school, but still pretty big. She ran into a blonde girl wearing a baby pink sweater and perfectly ironed jeans. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “I’m so sorry!” Both girls exclaimed at the same time, picking up the heavy textbooks the blonde girl was carrying. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “I wasn't watching where I was going, I’m so sorry.” Veronica said as she crouched down to help collect the scattered textbooks.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “No, it’s my fault, I couldn’t see anything behind this big stack of textbooks that I insisted on carrying all by myself to the library.” The girl smiled at her brightly, causing Veronica to immediately smile back. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Do you need any help?” Veronica asked, seeing the girl struggle to carry the books. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “That would be amazing. Are you new here?” The girl asked, handing some of the books to Veronica, and causing her to almost topple over by the weight of them. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “Yeah, I’m Veronica.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “I’m Betty. Would you like to sit with me and my friends during lunch?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      “That would be great.” </em>
</p><p>     It wasn’t until just the day before, Principal Weatherbee announced the school that people from Southside High would be transferring to Riverdale High. The whole school was raging. Except for Veronica. She kept her excitement and nervousness inside, not showing any emotion when Weatherbee announced the news to the school. Of course she didn’t tell her mom and step-father about this. They would plop her back into that horrible boarding school. She knew they would eventually figure out, but she had to see him. She absolutely had to. </p><p>     <em> “Attention students.” Principal Weatherbee’s voice rang loudly through the speakers in the hallway. “Because of some… problems... at Southside High, some of the students will be transferring here. Please treat them with kindness and respect.” </em></p><p>
  <em>      Everyone in the hallway booed and groaned, yelling at the speaker or banging their heads against their locker.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>      Veronica’s heartbeat stopped. Southside High? Where Jughead went? </em>
</p><p>     “Veronica?” a voice behind her said, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. “You okay?”</p><p>     She turned around to see a girl with blonde hair pulled up in a tight ponytail, a concerned expression on her face. </p><p>     “Hey B! I’m totally fine, why do you ask?” Veronica said, smiling brightly at her best friend to show that she was, indeed, totally fine. </p><p>     “Just seemed like you were thinking very hard.” Betty replied, flashing a smile back. “It was honestly a bit terrifying.” </p><p>      Veronica nervously laughed, feeling a bit guilty about keeping the truth from her best friend, the girl who became Veronica’s friend the moment she stepped into this school. </p><p>     “Betty… I need to tell you somethi-”</p><p>     “Hey guys!” a voice chirped happily.</p><p>     “Hey Kev!” Both girls said simultaneously, a smile coming to their faces when they saw their best friend bouncing up and down excitedly. </p><p>     “What’s got you so excited?” Veronica asked, all the guilt and nervousness flooding away when she saw Kevin wearing the biggest smile that could make the grumpiest person in the world happy.</p><p>     “The Southsiders are coming today! I’ve heard that they’re super hot.” Kevin bubbled, trying to contain his excitement. “I hope I find a cute gay kid.”</p><p>     “Even a straight kid would turn gay if they saw you.” Veronica joked, planting a kiss on his cheek. </p><p>    “Why thank you, good lady.” Kevin said with a British accent, adjusting his invisible tie. </p><p>     “What’s with the horrendous accent?” A girl with bright red hair chided in, joining the group.</p><p>     “That's bloody rubbish!" Kevin continued with the accent, feigning offence as he put one hand over his heart. "My accent is stupendous if I do say so myself."</p><p>     The girl rolled her eyes and turned to Betty and Veronica.</p><p>     “Can you believe those despicable snakes are coming to our school?” She said, scrunching up her nose in disgust.</p><p>     “Don’t be mean, Cheryl” Betty scolded, furrowing her eyebrows. “ I bet they’re not that bad.”</p><p>     Cheryl raised one perfectly trimmed eyebrow. “Whatever you say, cousin.”</p><p>     Betty ignored her sarcastic remark and looked at the door, mimicking the action of everyone else in the hallway. The whole school had their eyes fixed on the door, waiting for the Southsiders to pop in any moment now. All chatter immediately stopped when the big double doors flew open in what felt like slow motion. </p><p>     Veronica’s heartbeat got faster and faster until she felt like it was going to explode on the spot. Her breathing became heavier. She started sweating. She felt like the walls of the school were closing in on her. She felt like her lungs were getting smaller and smaller by every breath. <em> Would he remember me? Would he hate me for not telling him I’m back? Will he even be here? Would my friends hate me if they realized I was a Southsider? </em>Her mind swarmed with questions and was surprised her best friends weren’t realizing how nervous she was. </p><p>     Before she saw her brother, her eyes connected with the handsomest man on earth. She forgot her mission of finding Jughead, and just stared into the boy’s chocolate brown eyes. He looked very intimidating with his tall posture and scary stance, but that didn’t stop Veronica from staring at him while he stared back, smirking slightly. </p><p>     ‘<em>Veronica Cecilia Jones!’ </em> Her inner conscious screamed at her, causing her to snap out of the trance. ‘<em>Your brother that you haven’t seen in 5 years could possibly be here and you’re getting distracted by some pretty boy! No matter how hot he is, FOCUS ON FINDING YOUR BROTHER!!’  </em></p><p>     Veronica broke away from his hypnotizing stare and searched the crowd of Serpents for her beloved brother. It didn’t take long. There he was, standing in front of the group, wearing a serpent jacket and a dark gray beanie sitting on his head that he’s had since he was 5 years old. Their eyes met at the same time and all of Veronica’s worries and pain from the last 5 years washed away. Jughead narrowed his eyes at her like he was trying to figure out if he was hallucinating or his sister was actually standing there. </p><p>     “Hey Jug.” She managed to croak out. Veronica’s voice broke the silence in the hallway, and everyone’s eyes went to Veronica, the same question on all their minds. Jughead’s eyes went wide, realizing this was real. </p><p>     “Ronnie?!”</p><p>     Veronica couldn’t believe it either. This was actually real. Not a dream. Definitely real. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I'm addicted to the way I feel when I think of you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Veronica was overcome with emotion. All the pain she kept locked up inside of her came tumbling out in the form of happiness. She forgot all the horrible stuff that happened to her and relaxed in her brother’s arms for the first time in 5 long years. Hope bloomed inside of her that someone in this world did love her after all.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Guys, I'm still crying from last night's episode. On a happier note, Sweet Pea and Veronica actually had a conversation (it was only like two seconds but that's not the point) YAYYYY!!!! I replayed that scene like a million times, no joke</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “V, do you know him?” Betty cautiously asked, her eyes moving back and forth between Jughead and Veronica. </p><p>     Veronica didn’t answer, and without wasting a moment, she ran to Jughead and jumped into his arms, locking her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs securely around his waist.</p><p>     Jughead tightly wrapped his arms around her and returned her warm protective embrace. A great sob escaped her and she buried her face into the crook of his neck, slightly embarrassed by the amount of kids watching her. </p><p>     <em> ‘Yup,’ </em> she thought. <em> ‘This is 100% real.’ </em> </p><p>     Veronica was overcome with emotion. All the pain she kept locked up inside of her came tumbling out in the form of happiness. She forgot all the horrible stuff that happened to her and relaxed in her brother’s arms for the first time in 5 long years. Hope bloomed inside of her that someone in this world did love her after all. </p><p>     Jughead set Veronica on the floor after a minute of silence, pulling away from the hug and wiping the tears off her soft cheeks.</p><p>     “I thought you were in boarding school!” Jughead studied Veronica’s face, seeing how much she changed throughout the past couple years. </p><p>     “I came back 2 months ago.” Veronica smiled softly.</p><p>     “Why didn’t you tell me?!”</p><p>     “I wasn’t allowed to.” Veronica said quietly, looking at the floor. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>     Jughead enveloped her into another hug, kissing the top of her head and resting his chin there. </p><p>     “Veronica! What are you doing?!”</p><p>     Veronica turned around and rolled her eyes, seeing Archie Andrews, whose face was a darker shade than his hair. He was <b> <em>mad</em> </b> <em> . </em></p><p>     “Why are you hugging that<em> scum? </em>! Is he your boyfriend?” Archie spat out before Veronica could answer the question.</p><p>     Veronica really wanted to laugh at the fact that Archie thought Jughead was her boyfriend, but she had to answer his question before the whole school thought Jughead and Veronica were dating. Gross.</p><p>     “Damn, why does Jughead get all the hot girls?” The guy who Veronica was just having a staring contest with said, looking Veronica deeply in the eye for the second time in 5 minutes. “Not fair.”</p><p>     Veronica blushed madly, a quiet giggle falling from her lips. “No, he’s actually-”</p><p>     “Is he your friend with benefits?!” Kevin blurted out, covering his mouth with his hand after.</p><p>     “What, no, ew! He’s my-”</p><p>     “Answer the damn question Veronica!” Archie practically screamed.</p><p>     Veronica lost it. “I’M FUCKING TRYING TO! MAYBE IF YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND OPEN YOUR EARS FOR ONCE, YOU’LL HEAR THE ANSWER!! </p><p>     Archie immediately shut up.</p><p>     “Thank you.” Veronica breathed out, calmly this time. “This is my twin brother, Jughead.”</p><p>     The whole hallway gasped loudly, all their jaws unhinging and dropping to the floor.</p><p>     “He’s.. your brother?!” Archie’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. It was honestly quite funny. “Like, he has the same mom and dad as you do?” </p><p>     “Yes, Archie. That’s the definition of brother.”</p><p>     “But he lives on the Southside!”</p><p>     “I live with our mom, he lives with our dad.”</p><p>     “But-”</p><p>     “Sorry to interrupt your interrogation, Archibald, but I think we need answers more than you do.” Cheryl interrupted unapologetically. “Care do fill us in, Veronica?”</p><p>     “About that,” Veronica stepped forward to her friends, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “I’m really sorry you guys. I wanted to tell you so badly, but I wasn’t allowed to.” Veronica bit the inside of her cheek and waited for her friends to say something. When they didn’t, Veronica continued. “I’m a horrible so-called ‘best friend’ and I completely understand if you want to stop being friends with me because I’m from the Southside.”</p><p>     “No way!” Betty took Veronica’s soft hands into her own and gently smiled at her. “We love you for you, Veronica. Why does it matter where you’re from? You’re still our bestie. You’re the sweetest, kindest, wildest, most amazing person I’ve known. Veronica, you’ve gone through so much your entire life and you stayed brave and strong the whole way, and I completely admire you for that. I hope you are proud of yourself, because I definitely am.”</p><p>     “Amen, sister.” Kevin chimed in, standing next to Veronica and swinging an arm over her shoulder and smiling warmly. “We’re gonna stick with you the whole way, even if you don’t want us to.”</p><p>     Veronica smiled gratefully at her friends, the nervousness of losing them melting away. “Even you, Cheryl? You made it pretty clear that you aren’t exactly fond of the Southside.” Veronica teased.</p><p>     “I’ll make an exception for you.” Cheryl teased back, her lips curving upwards into a smile. Veronica pulled her 3 best friends into a tight group hug, smiling to herself. </p><p>     “How did I get so lucky to get friends like you guys?” Veronica whispered, so grateful for the accepting and loving friends she found.</p><p>     “You definitely hit the jackpot.” Kevin joked, kissing Veronica’s forehead. </p><p>     “Us finding out you’re from the Southside doesn’t change what we think about you.” Betty added, squeezing her arms around the group tighter.</p><p>     “Same here!” An obnoxious voice Veronica could recognize anywhere boomed. </p><p>     The 4 friends pulled away and looked at the direction which the voice came from.</p><p>     “Just because you’re from the Southside doesn’t mean I won’t stop eye-fucking you.” Reggie Mantle said loudly, smirking to himself. </p><p>     Everyone’s eyeballs popped out of their heads, and they immediately turned to Jughead. He was fuming, his hands balled up and his face tomato red. </p><p>     Veronica quickly stepped in front of Jughead, stopping him from going up to Reggie and ripping his limbs out. “Jug, please don’t. You can’t get suspended on your first day.”</p><p>     Jughead didn’t calm down, but he didn’t make a move to get to Reggie, so Veronica relaxed a little bit, relieved that nobody was going to end up with a broken nose.</p><p>     Or so she thought.</p><p>     In a blink of an eye, the handsome guy standing next to Jughead was punching Reggie in the face repeatedly, while everyone watched motionlessly, gaping in awe and watching the drama unfold. </p><p>     Veronica rushed to the guy, but not before giving Jughead a ‘don’t-you-dare-move’ look. She got in between him and Reggie, putting her hands on his chest to stop him from beating Reggie black and blue.</p><p>     “Please stop.” She pleaded, tilting her head up so she could look him in the eye. “Please.” </p><p>     The fire in his eyes seemed to die down at her touch.</p><p>     “Veronica, get your damn hands off of him!” Archie growled deeply.</p><p>     She whipped around and glared daggers -very very sharp daggers- at Archie.</p><p>     “Do <b>not </b> speak to me like that, Archie Andrews. And do <b>not</b> tell me what to do. You have no right to control me or my actions. I am <b>not</b> your puppet. You do <b>not </b>own me. I am my own person and I can do whatever I want without getting permission from you.”</p><p>     “Okay, geez.” Archie backed up a little, putting his hands up like he was surrendering. </p><p>     The bell rang loudly in the hallway, signaling the students that class was starting soon. Kids slowly started getting to their classes, whispering amongst each other. Veronica turned to Jughead and the rest of the serpents, seeing Josie handing out schedules to all of them. </p><p>     “Jug, I gotta get to class, I’ll see you at lunch, bye! Try not to get suspended!” Veronica rushed, stole a quick glance at the kid next to Jughead, linked elbows with Cheryl, and skipped off to their first period class.</p><p> </p><p>********************************************************************************</p><p> </p><p>     Sweet Pea couldn’t get that girl out of his mind.</p><p>     He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Jughead had a <em> twin sister </em>, which was kind of crazy if you asked him. Why didn’t FP tell anyone?</p><p>     You know someone for 5 years and you would think you know them by now. Well, apparently, Sweet Pea didn’t know Jughead at all.</p><p>     He kept remembering her touch on his chest, the touch that sent a wave of shock through his body in the hallway. He had no idea what magic she did, but all his anger died down and he just wanted to stare into her chocolate brown eyes forever. </p><p>     That was until that stupid red head ruined the moment.</p><p>     He was lost in his own thoughts, thinking about her and nothing else. </p><p>     “Hey man!” Fangs plopped down to the left of Sweet Pea, bumping their shoulders together and destroying Sweet Pea’s thought process. “Whatcha thinkin bout?”</p><p>     “You mean what I <em> was </em> thinking about before you noisily interrupted.” Sweet Pea corrected, taking a bite of his sandwich. </p><p>     “Fine, what <em> were </em> you thinking about?” Fangs questioned, raising his eyebrows at Sweet Pea.</p><p>     “Mind your business, Fogarty.”</p><p>     “Ooooo, you were totally thinking about that girl.” Fangs teased, bumping his shoulder into Sweet Pea again.</p><p>     “Ooo, our Little Pea’s got a crush?” Toni slid into the spot on the right of Sweet Pea, waggling her eyebrows at him.</p><p>     “What, no-”</p><p>     “Did someone say Sweet Pea has a crush?” Jughead took the spot opposite from Sweet Pea, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich before he could even sit down. “Who’s the lucky girl?”</p><p>     Sweet Pea heavily sighed, knowing there was no way out of this.</p><p>     Right on cue, Veronica (that was what her friends called her, right?) flopped into the spot next to Jughead, throwing her lunch tray onto the table with a loud thud. </p><p>     “What’s got you so moody?” Jughead asked as he took a handful of her fries. </p><p>     “I see you're still obsessed with food.” Veronica said, giving him the rest of her fries.</p><p>     “Obviously.” Jughead gratefully accepted them. “But you still didn’t answer my question.”</p><p>     “Everyone’s been throwing me dirty looks all day.” Veronica said dully, picking at her salad. </p><p>     “I could beat them up for you.” Jughead offered, stuffing his face with fries.</p><p>     “You? Puh-leeze.”</p><p>     Jughead huffed but continued eating, as always. </p><p>     “Is it okay if I bring my friends over here?” Veronica asked, looking at the group.</p><p>     “I don’t think they really want to.” Jughead said, looking at the 3 friends sitting a couple tables away who immediately looked down when Jughead made eye contact with them. </p><p>     “They’re just a bit intimidated by you guys.” Veronica shrugged, getting up and smoothing down her skirt. “Plus, it looks like your friend here has heart eyes for mine. I would be a horrible best friend if I didn’t introduce them.” Veronica looked pointedly at Fangs, who was too busy looking at Veronica’s friend to notice.</p><p>     Sweet Pea watched as she made her way to her friends and dragged them to the table where he and his friends were sitting at. </p><p>     “Jughead and Co, these are my soulmates.” Veronica gestured to the three people who were slowly taking a seat at the table. “First is Betty Coo-” </p><p>     “Why does Betty get to be first?” The boy whined, frowning.</p><p>     “Guys, I’m not going in order on who I love more. I’m saying your names randomly.” Veronica sighed heavily.</p><p>     “Suuuureee.” The redhead girl scoffed, looking at her nails.</p><p>     “Ok fine, here is <em> one </em> of my best friends, Betty Coo-”</p><p>     “Why does Betty still get to be first?” The boy whined again and the redhead nodded in agreement. </p><p>     “Because I’m her favorite.” The blonde piped up, smiling smugly to herself.</p><p>     “Veronica, is this true??!!” The redhead gasped,  placing both hands on her heart dramatically.</p><p>     Jughead, Sweet Pea, Fangs, and Toni watched in amusement as Veronica face-palmed and collapsed onto the bench.</p><p>     “Introduce yourselves, I don’t have the energy to.” She muttered exasperatedly. </p><p>     “I’m Cheryl Blossom, HBIC of the River Vixens, and inventor of the color red.” Cheryl stated proudly, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t exactly like Serpents, but I’m making an exception for my best friend. If any of you snakes do something to get on my nerves, I’m out of here.”</p><p>      Toni raised an eyebrow at Cheryl, smiling to herself. “Sorry to break it to you Blossom, but you did not invent red.”</p><p>     Cheryl’s nostrils flared and she narrowed her eyes at Toni.</p><p>     “Listen up Dipstick, I invented red. I <b>am</b> red. If I see the slightest bit of red on you, I <b>will</b> murder you in your sleep. Understood?”</p><p>     “Please ignore her, she just really loves the color red.” Betty smiled softly.</p><p>     “So you’re Betty Coo? I didn’t quite catch your last name.” Jughead joked, causing her to giggle softly. </p><p>     “It’s Betty Cooper.”</p><p>     “You mean daughter of Alice Cooper? From The Register?”</p><p>     Betty’s face darkened a little bit, but it immediately went back to smiling.</p><p>     “Yeah, I’m sorry for the horrible things she’s written about you guys in the paper.” She looked down at the floor and curled her fingers into her palm.</p><p>     “That’s okay, you shouldn’t be the one apologizing.”</p><p>     Betty looked up and gratefully beamed at Jughead.</p><p>     “Jug, ask her about the story she’s working on for the Blue and Gold.” Veronica chimed in, noticing the interaction between her brother and best friend.</p><p>     “You write?” Jughead asked, forgetting about the food on his tray.</p><p>     “Well, I’m actually the editor but I have no one to write for me so I just write myself.” Betty confirmed. “Do you?”</p><p>     “Yeah, I love writing!” Jughead exclaimed, his eyes brightening.</p><p>     “Maybe you could write for me?” Betty asked hopefully, biting her lip.</p><p>     “I would love to!”</p><p>     Betty grinned ear to ear at Jughead, her eyes twinkling. “Would you like to check out The Blue and Gold after school with me?”</p><p>     Jughead nodded excitedly like a bobble head, staring into Betty’s eyes. </p><p>     “You're better than cupid.” Toni said, reaching her hand out to Veronica. “I’m Toni Topaz.”</p><p>     “Veronica Jones.” Veronica said as she shook Toni’s hands.</p><p>     “This giant is Sweet Pea and the one head over heels for your friend is Fangs.” Toni explained, shooting a glance at Sweet Pea and Fangs. </p><p>     “Sweet Pea and Fangs... those are very interesting names.” Veronica flashed Sweet Pea a bright smile, causing his heart to almost stop.</p><p>     <em> ‘Dear god.’ </em> Sweet Pea thought in his head. <em> ‘Is this woman trying to kill me?’ </em></p><p>“I’m Kevin.” The boy introduced, his eyes focused on Fangs.</p><p>     “Nice to meet you Kevin, I’m Fangs.”</p><p>     Kevin and Fangs stared into each other’s eyes as everyone else watched.</p><p>     “Another ship is sailing.” Veronica whispered loudly to the group.</p><p>     “So, does anyone want to tell me who that crazy redhead in the hallway was?” Sweet Pea asked, looking at Veronica, Cheryl, Betty, and Kevin. </p><p>     “That’s Archie.” Betty explained. “He’s had a huge crush on Veronica ever since she stepped into the school.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea’s blood boiled and he had no idea why. </p><p>     Okay, maybe he had a little idea why. </p><p>     “And what about that dickhead I punched?”</p><p>     “That’s Reggie.” Kevin said. “He also has a huge crush on Veronica.”</p><p>     “Actually, Archie’s crush is more of a genuine one. Reggie just wants to get into Veronica’s pants.” Cheryl added, looking at Reggie from across the cafeteria in disgust.</p><p>     Sweet Pea had a sudden urge to walk over and sock Reggie in the jaw (again) when he heard that.</p><p>     “That’s gross. I don’t want any boy getting into my little sister’s pants.” Jughead scrunched up his nose and glared at Reggie, who was icing his jaw.</p><p>     “You're only older by 16 minutes and 23 seconds, Jug.” Veronica said, rolling her eyes.</p><p>     “That still makes me older.”</p><p>     “Anyways, Toni, tell me about yourself. You seem like an interesting girl.” Cheryl said as casually as possible. </p><p>     Toni smirked but immediately wiped it off when Cheryl gave her a death stare.</p><p>     “Well, I bartend on Wednesday’s and Friday’s at the Whyte Wyrm. I-”</p><p>     “Is that even legal? You’re only in high school.” Betty scrunched her eyebrows together.</p><p>     “No one gives a shit there.” Toni shrugged. “Anyway, I like photography and I like to dance.”</p><p>     Veronica sat up straighter, placing her hands flat on the table and leaning forward. “I just had a brilliant idea.”</p><p>     “Oh no.” Jughead sighed, shaking his head. “Your ‘brilliant ideas’ always turn out to be horrible.”</p><p>     “Shut up or else I’ll tell everyone your real name.” </p><p>     Jughead narrowed his eyes at Veronica. “You wouldn’t dare.”</p><p>     She innocently smiled back. “Try me.”</p><p>     “Tell us.” Sweet Pea said. “I’ve been begging him for so long.”</p><p>     “A twin tells no tales.” Veronica winked at Sweet Pea, making him die all over again. “But, you might be able to get it out of me when I’m drunk.” </p><p>     “Deal.”</p><p>     “Hey, no deal.” Jughead frowned at Veronica and Sweet Pea.</p><p>     “Wait, what was your brilliant idea?” Toni asked curiously. </p><p>     “You probably don’t wanna know.” Jughead warned as he reached across the table and snatched Toni’s chips.</p><p>     “Ignore him, Toni.” Veronica said as she grabbed the chips from Jughead and threw them back to Toni. “So, since you like dancing, maybe you could join the River Vixens?”</p><p>     Sweet Pea, Fangs, and Jughead looked at Veronica in disbelief and burst into a laughing fit, holding their sides and toppling over.</p><p>     “Tiny as a cheerleader?! No way.” Sweet Pea managed to say between laughs.</p><p>     “Hey!” Toni punched Sweet Pea in the arm, glaring at him. “Why does that seem so funny to you.”</p><p>     “It’s not funny to you?” Fangs asked, wiping the tears from his cheeks. </p><p>     “No, it doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea!”</p><p>     “Really?!” Jughead looked astonished that Toni was actually considering it.</p><p>     “Haha, tooold youuuuuu.” Veronica sang, sticking her tongue out at her brother. </p><p>     “You know what, I’ll do it!” Toni declared, looking smugly at Sweet Pea and Fangs.</p><p>     “Yayyy!” Veronica squealed, clapping her hands happily. “It’ll be so fun to have you on the squad!”</p><p>     “Wait, you’re on the team too?” Sweet Pea inquired, leaning forward.</p><p>     “Yeah.” Veronica nodded. “So is Betty.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea’s mind immediately went to what Veronica would look like in her cheer uniform wearing a short skirt that showed off her tan legs and a cheer shell that hugged her curves. It made him hard just thinking about it.</p><p>     “You’re drooling.” Fangs whisper-teased in Sweet Pea’s ear. Thankfully no one heard.</p><p>     “When’s tryouts?” Toni asked, opening her bag of chips with a pop.</p><p>     “This afternoon, can you make it?” Cheryl asked, resting her elbows on the table and placing her chin between her hands.</p><p>     “Yup. Then after, we can all go to the Wyrm together.”</p><p>     “Wait wait wait, no one is going to the Wyrm.” Jughead jumped in, setting down his second sandwich.</p><p>     “Come on Jug, why not?” Veronica pouted. “It’ll be fun.”</p><p>     “No, it’ll be dangerous.” He corrected, licking his fingers.</p><p>     “What do you think is gonna happen? No one has the nerve to lay a finger on FP’s daughter.” Sweet Pea pointed out.</p><p>     “What about Betty?” Jughead countered.</p><p>     “You mean ‘Betty, Cheryl, and Kevin’.” Cheryl corrected, rolling her eyes while Betty blushed.</p><p>     “Yeah, whatever.” Jughead waved off, the tip of his ears turning slightly red. “Something could happen to them.”</p><p>     “They’ll be with us, Jughead. Nothing’s gonna happen to them.” Fangs said from his spot next to Sweet Pea.</p><p>     Jughead heavily sighed and shook his head. “You guys are unbelievable.” </p><p>     “So that’s a yes?” Betty asked, looking Jughead in the eye.</p><p>     “Ugh, fine. I guess Dad will be happy to see Veronica.”</p><p>     “He’ll be happy to see me? I don’t think so.” Veronica looked at the ground, playing with her fingers.</p><p>     “What do you mean? Why would he not be happy to see you?” Cheryl asked, placing a hand on Veronica’s shoulder. </p><p>     Veronica shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’m living on the Northside with Mom. And I haven’t talked to him in so long.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea could tell by the look on her face that she really missed her dad, but wasn’t sure if he missed her back.</p><p>     “Ronnie, Dad misses you. A lot. He doesn’t hate you because you’re living on the Northside with Mom.”</p><p>     “Then why didn’t he call me? Why didn’t he tell anyone about me? Why did he just let Mom take me away when we were 4?” Veronica retorted, a single tear rolling down her cheek. </p><p>     Sweet Pea wanted to go up to her and comfort her, holding her in his arms and telling her everything was going to be okay, but honestly, he had no idea what was going on.</p><p>     “Ask him that.” Jughead simply stated, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “If you come to the Wyrm tonight, you can ask him.”</p><p>     “Fine. But one condition.”</p><p>     “Oh god.” Jughead buried his face in his hands. </p><p>     She looked across the table and pointed at Sweet Pea. “You have to tell me your real name.”</p><p>     “Well then consider yourself a bored girl tonight, Sweet Pea won’t tell anyone his real name.” Toni scoffed, wiping her greasy chip fingers on Sweet Pea’s jacket.</p><p>     “I’ll tell you if you can get me drunk enough at the Wyrm.” Sweet Pea smirked, swatting Toni’s hands away from his jacket.</p><p>     “Deal.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I fell for you and I am still falling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p> FP grinned. “Serpents, this is my daughter that only a few of the older ones know about, Veronica Jones!’ He announced, sending an applause and whoops through the crowd after they recovered from their shock paralyze. He squeezed her shoulder and flashed her a bright smile, and Veronica couldn’t help but smile back.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tonight's the time jump episode!!!!! *high pitched squeal<br/>Please please please tell me your thoughts in the comments!</p><p>https://youtu.be/cc4bm2ZRj3I (link to tonight's episode's trailer)</p><p>WARNING: VERY VERY VERY MILD SMUT</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Veronica stood in front of the Whyte Wyrm entrance and squinted at the dusty board that had ‘WHYTE WYRM’ printed boldly on it. She watched as big burly men and women wearing biker jackets leaned against their motorcycles and stared at her through narrowed eyes while taking a big drag from their cigarettes. Music blasted from the inside of the building, the sound of deep laughter and chatter filling the air.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Is he going to hate me? Will he even remember me? Will his fellow serpents like me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>     The same questions that overtook Veronica’s mind when she was about to meet Jughead came back, giving Veronica a mini panic attack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Veronica?” A hand was gently placed on Veronica’s shoulder from behind her, making her jump a little. Toni wore a worried expression, her face framed with her vibrant pink hair. “You okay, girl?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yup, just gonna meet my dad that probably hates me for the first time in 5 years, no biggie.” Veronica scoffed, the stomach twisting and turning at the words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You’ll be fine.” Toni comforted, draping an arm around Veronica’s shoulder. Toni steered Veronica through the doors of the Whyte Wyrm, squeezing between the big men and women that smelled like cigars and beer. They immediately made way for them when they saw Jughead at Veronica’s heels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Loud rock music blasted while people wearing serpent jackets played pool and drank beer. It was honestly a little intimidating for Veronica, Betty, Kevin, and Cheryl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     A very tall man -taller than Sweet Pea- appeared before them, towering over Veronica and Toni like they were his shadow. “Who’s your little friend, Toni?” He asked with a gruff voice and looked closely at Veronica with squinted eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “This is Veronica. She’s FP’s-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Veronica?!” Toni was cut off by an all too familiar voice that made Veronica want the floor to open and swallow her whole, designer heels and all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     FP stared at the group with widened eyes and slowly made his way over, like a lion creeping towards a deer. The whole bar went silent, not knowing what was going on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica had the sudden urge to turn on her heel and run away to god knows where, but her feet betrayed her, staying planted on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Hi?” Veronica managed to squeak out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica thought he was going to yell at her to leave his bar and go back to the Northside, but he did quite the opposite. He crushed her into a hug, taking Veronica by surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his shirt, crying in front of so many people for the second time today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I came back 2 months ago. I wasn’t allowed to tell you. Mom and Hiram know that a few of the southsiders came to Riverdale High, but they don’t know one of them is Jughead.” Veronica saved FP from asking any questions, her voice muffled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     FP didn’t speak, instead just held Veronica even tighter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     When FP finally pulled away, he burst with questions that he had been saving to ask her for the past 5 years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “How are you? How was boarding school? Is Hiram treating you well? Is-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Dad, I’m fine.” Veronica assured with a chuckle, the whole bar gasping at the word ‘dad’. “But why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you tell anyone that I existed?” Veronica repeated the questions she asked Jughead in the cafeteria at school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “The Southside is a dangerous place, Veronica. I was trying to protect you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well, you did a pretty shitty job of it.” Veronica half-smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     FP let out a laugh and engulfed Veronica into another hug. “Yup. You're 100% right. I did a pretty shitty job of it.” He agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The man from behind the bar cleared his throat, getting FP’s attention. “Care to introduce us, boss?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     FP grinned. “Serpents, this is my daughter that only a few of the older ones know about, Veronica Jones!’ He announced, sending an applause and whoops through the crowd after they recovered from their shock paralyze. He squeezed her shoulder and flashed her a bright smile, and Veronica couldn’t help but smile back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>************************************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea watched his friends from his place behind the bar. Fangs was teaching Veronica how to play pool -and doing a horrible job of it- while Kevin laughed at how bad Veronica was at it and how terrible Fangs was at giving instructions. Cheryl and Toni were shamelessly flirting next to Kevin, ignoring all the whines and protests of disgust from him. Betty and Jughead were in an intense conversation about something, probably books.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea had to smile at the sight. It was too pure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The look of confusion on Veronica’s face when Fangs tried to teach her how to play, her cute giggle when Kevin cracked a joke, her amused expression while watching Cheryl and Toni flirt like there was no tomorrow, and her bright beam while she watched her brother and friend bond over books and writing was enough to make Sweet Pea’s cold, hard, heart melt.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Damn, he was falling hard.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Ahem.” FP’s voice brought him back to reality, shaking his head slightly to snap out of the trance Veronica unknowingly put him in. “I asked for a Lemon Drop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     It took Sweet Pea twice the amount of time it would normally take him to make a Lemon Drop. While making the drink, he watched as Veronica dragged Toni and Betty to the pool table, forcing them to participate in the game while Kevin acted like a referee. Betty was equally bad at pool as Veronica, and them being drunk made them even worse. They would giggle and high-five even when they completely missed the shot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea slid the drink to FP and leaned against the counter on his elbows, staring at Veronica intensely. She was absolutely beautiful. Sure, he’s called plenty of girls things like hot, sexy, seductive, and spicy before, but he’s never called a girl beautiful. Sweet Pea was glad that the honor went to Veronica.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Sweet Pea didn’t care if FP was watching him stare at his daughter or not. He was too focused on Veronica to pay attention to the fact that FP was indeed watching him stare at Veronica.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You're practically eye-fucking my daughter from across the room.” FP smirked/growled lowly, and Sweet Pea blushed madly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Wh-what, no I’m not.” He stammered, peeling his eyes off of Veronica.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     FP eyed Sweet Pea suspiciously before getting pulled into a conversation by Tall Boy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Once FP was out of sight, Sweet Pea’s gaze went back to the group. Betty and Jughead went back to their drunk book conversation while Veronica, Kevin, Fangs, Toni, and Cheryl were laughing hysterically and stealing sips from each others’ drinks. It was so heartwarming for Sweet Pea to see the girl who he was possibly falling for getting along so well with his best friends. But of course, he would never admit that to anyone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>************************************************************</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea caught Veronica by the waist before she could fall flat on her face onto the hard ground in the parking lol.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “Be careful.” He laughed as he steadied her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “These stupid heels.” She grumbled as she slipped them off and picked them up with her dainty hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “That’s why you should wear sandals like me.” Betty giggled airily from her spot next to Jughead. “I’m not falling over, am I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica growled and flipped Betty off before she continued walking, barefoot this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “If you don’t like them, why do you wear them?” Sweet Pea questioned, honestly curious on why.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “My mom makes me.” Veronica shrugged. “She thinks if I dress up all pretty like a northsider, I’ll forget I was born a southsider.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Classic Mom.” Jughead scoffed as he put an arm around Betty’s waist to stop her from losing her balance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Anyway, who wants to do the honors of taking me home?” Veronica joked. “It comes with a bonus gunshot from my step-dad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “As much as I love you, there is no way in hell I’m risking my life to drop you off at home.” Jughead said. “Plus, I have to drop Betty off at her house. That’s much less deadly than dropping you off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I don’t know about that, Mama Coop is pretty scary.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Agreed.” Cheryl and Kevin chimed at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Betty rolled her eyes but smiled. “Mom thinks I’m in bed right now. I can climb up the tree next to my window into my room. I kept it unlocked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Archibald will most definitely see you and rat you out, being the disgusting snitch he is.” Cheryl pointed out, earning confused looks from Toni, Fangs, Sweet Pea, and Jughead. “They’re neighbors.” Kevin clarified.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Ugh, great.” Jughead groaned sarcastically. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Excuuuse meeee!!!I still don’t have a ride!” Veronica complained. “I’m not even gonna bother asking Toni, she’ll probably be doing sinful things at Thistlehouse with Cheryl. And if I ask Fangs, Kev will never forgive me.” She turned towards Sweet Pea and smiled innocently. “Will you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You’re asking me if I’m willing to die to drop you off at home?” Sweet Pea smirked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yup.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Sure, whatever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Thank youuuuuuuu!” She giggled and tucked herself underneath Sweet Pea’s arm, wrapping both arms around his waist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Jughead narrowed his eyes at Sweet Pea. “Remember-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yes, I know, Jug. Tuck her in bed and leave, nothing else.” Sweet Pea rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea helped Veronica onto his motorcycle and got on, inserting the key and twisting it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Wait!” Veronica yelled as Sweet Pea was about to start. She jumped off the motorcycle and gave everyone a tight hug. “Now I’m ready!” She exclaimed as she hopped back onto the motorcycle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea sped away as Veronica waved and blew kisses to everyone. “I love you guuuuys!” She yelled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Once she was satisfied by the number of kisses she blew and ‘I love you’s’ she said, she wrapped her arms tightly around Sweet Pea and buried her face into his back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’ve never ridden one of these before.” Veronica said, her face still pressed to Sweet Pea’s back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well do you like it?” Sweet Pea glanced at Veronica through the side mirror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She hummed in response, too tired to open her mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     They sat in silence for the rest of the ride. Sweet Pea enjoyed the feeling of her pressed against his back, keeping him warm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Are your mom and step-dad home?” Sweet Pea asked as he pulled into the big garage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “No.” Veronica pointed to the empty parking space that read ‘RESERVED’. “They’re probably on some date night. They like to leave without telling me or checking on me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “And how do you feel about that?” Sweet Pea asked as he helped Veronica off the bike, holding her with a tight grip. He practically dragged her to the elevator where she groggily punched in some numbers. “I’ll tell you later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea helped her across the house while Veronica mumbled directions on where to go. He gently placed her on her bed and took the heels from her hand, putting them on the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea sat down at Veronica’s feet, but not before covering her with her heavy blanket. “You ready to pour your heart out to me?” Sweet Pea joked softly, moving up the bed, closer to Veronica.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica shrugged. “There’s not much to talk about. Mom and Dad split when me and Jug were 4, Mom dragged me over here. Hiram came along one day and they got married. He absolutely hated me and the Serpents. I was only allowed to see Jughead once a year, but I would sneak off to see him at least once a week. When Hiram came to know, he sent me to a boarding school in NYC and I was there for 5 years. I came back 2 months ago and was put in Riverdale High. Moral of the story: My step-dad hates me and brainwashed my mom into hating me too, so I basically live with people who don’t love me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea felt genuinely bad for Veronica. His family died, yes, but at least he lived with his grandma, who loved him dearly. Veronica had to live in a house with horrible people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “What about you? I shared my life story, now it's your turn.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea took a deep breath. “My mom died when I was born. My dad was deployed, so my grandma and I went to Jersey where some distant relatives lived. When I was five, my dad died serving. We came back to Riverdale so we could have the protection of the Serpents.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica reached out and touched the dog tags sitting on his chest. “Are these his?” She breathed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea nodded sadly, looking down at them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’m really sorry for your loss.” Veronica said softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s okay.” Sweet Pea smiled at Veronica in the dim light.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Sweet Pea?” Veronica broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yes, doll?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You’re really pretty.” She giggled as she put her hand on Sweet Pea’s cheek and admired his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea let out a hearty laugh. “Well I think you’re really beautiful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica scrunched her eyebrows together. “Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea’s smile turned into a slight frown as he saw the disbelief on her face. “What do you mean? Of course you are. You are so very beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” He said as he smoothed down her hair, realizing he was showing his soft side to a girl he met less than 24 hours ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     That was a record</span>
  <em>
    <span>.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>     Being in a girl’s room for more than 5 minutes and not fucking her, also another record.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Thank you.” She smiled before closing her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea got up from the bed, and before he could take a step, Veronica’s perfectly manicured hand grabbed his wrist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You still didn’t tell me your real name.” She mumbled with closed eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You didn’t get me drunk enough. Maybe next time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica let go of his hand and grinned, her eyes still closed, and relaxed into her fluffy pillow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Goodnight, Veronica.” Sweet Pea whispered under his breath as he made his way out of her room, taking a quick look at her over his shoulder before leaving. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>****************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s not that hard, Juggie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “What do you mean it’s not that hard?! Where the hell am I supposed to put my feet?!?” Jughead yelled at a wasted Betty as he struggled to climb up the tree next to Betty’s window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I literally just showed you!” Betty yelled back from her spot at the window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She practically jumped into her room by taking literally one step on the tree while Jughead was still trying to figure out where to put his first step.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well I’m sorry, I didn’t learn parkour!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Neither did I, you silly goose.” Betty giggled, sticking her tongue out at Jughead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You know what, just tuck yourself in bed. I have no idea how to climb up this damn tree.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Really? The great and mighty Serpent Prince doesn’t know how to climb up a </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘ damn tree’</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Betty teased, mimicking his words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Knowing how to climb a tree wasn’t in the contract.” Jughead joked as he watched Betty laugh hysterically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Fine, I guess I’ll just tuck myself in.” Betty fake sighed heavily, her goofy smile never leaving her lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Goodnight, Betts.” Jughead said as he swung his leg over his motorcycle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Goodnight, Juggie.” Betty called from the window as she watched Jughead speed away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>****************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Cheryl was pinned against the door of her room, making out passionately with the pink-haired serpent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I can’t believe we managed to sneak past your parents.” Toni muttered against Cheryl’s red lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s not that hard. I do it almost every night.” Cheryl’s hands snaked their way under Toni’s top. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Toni let out a moan/chuckle as Cheryl groped Toni's breasts over her bra and under her shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     In the next second, Toni’s top and Cheryl’s dress were on the floor and both girls were on Cheryl’s bed with Toni on top. Toni hand found its way to Cheryl’s bra and unclasped it hurriedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “What’s the rush, TT?” Cheryl groaned as Toni’s mouth latched onto Cheryl’s left breast. “We have all the time in the world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Toni planted kisses down Cheryl’s body, stopping at the bottom of her stomach and looking up for permission.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Please.” Cheryl nodded and that was all what Toni needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>****************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “This is it.” Fangs kicked a random shoe to the side as he stepped into the trailer and flipped on the lights. “Home sweet home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s nice.” Kevin said as he looked around and saw pictures with Sweet Pea and Toni on the wall. “How long have you known them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Since I was 2.” Fangs said, smiling at the picture which had him, Sweet Pea, and Toni making silly faces at the camera from when they were 6.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Are you a Serpent by blood?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’m not, but Sweet Pea and Toni are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Tell me how you guys met.” Kevin hummed as he plopped onto the couch and covered himself with a blanket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Fangs took a seat next to him and put his feet on the small table sitting in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Toni’s mom and dad were both serpents. They got into a car crash one day when Toni was 6 months old. They both died. Toni’s grandpa and grandma who lived in New Jersey came and took Toni there. Around that same time, Pea’s mom died when he was born and he was taken to New Jersey by his grandma. I was living in New Jersey in an abusive foster home. The three of us met one day and became instant best friends. Sweet Pea’s grandma took me in. When his dad died when we were 5, Sweet Pea and his grandma came back here to have the protection of the serpents. I went along because Sweet Pea’s grandma was my legal guardian. Toni’s grandparents and her also came along. Then boom, here we are now.” Fangs explained looking over at Kevin to make sure he understood the story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     He was already asleep, his head resting on Fangs’ shoulder. Fangs smiled at the sight and leaned into Kevin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Goodnight.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Even if there wasn't gravity on earth, I'd still fall for you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Which one of you fleabags wrote on my locker?” Veronica demanded. “I’m putting my money on you two.” She glared at Chuck and Reggie, who wore amused expressions.<br/>“Oh no, what was written on your locker, Veronica?” Reggie smirked, his tone dripping with fake sympathy.<br/>She balled her fists up and released them after a deep breath.<br/>“You already know, Reggie.”<br/>“Really? I don’t think so.” Reggie cocked his head to the side.<br/>“Veronica? What was on your locker?” Sweet Pea asked in a dangerously calm voice from behind her.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I only have one thing to say from last night's episode:</p><p> That shower scene was intense </p><p>Please leave a comment and let me know how you like this story so far :))<br/>-Sam</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>     Veronica climbed her way up the stairs, spotting Betty, Toni, Cheryl, and Kevin huddled together in the hallway.</p><p>     “Hey guys. What’s going on?”</p><p>     “We’re trying to get Toni and Cheryl to tell us about their night, but they’re being mean and not saying anything.” Kevin frowned.</p><p>     “Oooo, did you two have last night?” Veronica waggled her eyebrows at the girls.</p><p>     “Hell yeah we did.” Toni smirked as Cheryl turned the color of her hair. </p><p>     “So are you guys officially together or are you just friends with benefits?” Kevin pestered, leaning forward.</p><p>     “Leave them alone, Kev.” Betty slightly pushed Kevin away from Cheryl’s face playfully.</p><p>     “Well, we talked about it this morning, and I think we want to be with each other.” Toni laced her hands with Cheryl’s and the latter nodded and smiled.</p><p>     Veronica squealed and threw her arms around both girls, squeezing them tightly. “I’m so happy for you guys!!”</p><p>     “How are you so excited? You were super drunk last night.” Toni laughed but hugged Veronica back.</p><p>     “Last night was nothing, you should see what we drink during our Girls Nights + Kevins.” Betty scoffed. “We basically chug down tequila bottles all night.”</p><p>     “Anything happen between you and Fangs last night?” Veronica turned to Kevin.</p><p>     “Actually, no.” He shrugged. “We just fell asleep on the couch.”</p><p>     “Don’t worry Kev, you’ll get your chance sooner or later.” Veronica teased as she made her way to her locker with Betty and Toni as Cheryl and Kevin went the other direction. </p><p>     “So, Bee, what happened between you and my darling brother last night.” Veronica poked at Betty.</p><p>     “Nothing, really. He just dropped me off at-” Betty froze in her spot, her eyes widening.</p><p>     “Betty?” Toni waved her hand in front of Betty’s face and followed her gaze to what she was looking at.</p><p>     “What. The. Fuck.” Toni turned into a dark red color and looked like she could kill someone.</p><p>     Veronica whipped around to see a large number of students huddled around a locker that had ‘SERPENT SLUT’ spray-painted across it in red. </p><p>     That’s when it struck Veronica.</p><p>     That was her locker.</p><p>     “I bet I know exactly who did this.” Veronica muttered under her breath, filled with anger and sadness at the same time.</p><p>      Veronica marched to the boy’s locker room with Toni and Betty at her heels. She pushed open the door to be almost thrown back by the gross stench, but managed to keep walking.</p><p>      She ran into Sweet Pea, who was only wearing a towel.</p><p>      “Veronica?!”</p><p>      She tried really hard to not look at anything except for his eyes, and luckily, her eyes listened.</p><p>      Veronica just shoved past Sweet Pea and Fangs with Toni and Betty right behind her, squeezing past all the boys.</p><p>      Betty was a bit more polite, saying ‘sorry’ and ‘excuse me’ as she made her through the jocks, while Veronica and Toni basically just pushed them out of their way.</p><p>     “Which one of you fleabags wrote on my locker?” Veronica demanded. “I’m putting my money on you two.” She glared at Chuck and Reggie, who wore amused expressions.</p><p>     “Oh no, what was written on your locker, Veronica?” Reggie smirked, his tone dripping with fake sympathy.</p><p>     She balled her fists up and released them after a deep breath.</p><p>     “You already know, Reggie.”</p><p>     “Really? I don’t think so.” Reggie cocked his head to the side.</p><p>     “Veronica? What was on your locker?” Sweet Pea asked in a dangerously calm voice from behind her.</p><p>     She bit the inside of her cheek and squeezed her eyes shut.</p><p>     “Tell them.” Chuck snickered.</p><p>     Veronica wanted to cry.</p><p>     “Veronica…” Fangs said cautiously from behind her.</p><p>     “Serpent slut.” She spat out. The tears that were forming in her eyes disappeared and anger replaced it as the words came out of her mouth.</p><p>     “Son of a bitch.” Sweet Pea growled, making a move towards Reggie. </p><p>     “Stop.” She commanded in a loud voice, causing Sweet Pea to immediately freeze. She took a step closer to the two boys. She could feel the blood pumping in her veins. “Who’s idea was this.”</p><p>     “Archie’s.” Chuck said, looking at the red head who was standing silently in the corner of the room, the smug look leaving his face when Veronica turned toward him and glared at him with her sharp eyes.</p><p>     “I thought you were my friend.” She snarled.</p><p>     “I’m trying to protect you-” He started, but was cut off by Veronica.</p><p>     “Writing ‘SERPENT SLUT’ on my locker isn’t protecting me in any way!” She yelled. “And what is the deal with everyone trying to protect me? Am I some princess that needs saving? Can I not take care of myself? Am I not allowed to make my own decisions? You said you were my friend! Friends are supposed to walk alongside the other person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them about their actions or trying to fix them! You’re doing the opposite! I understand if I am doing something bad and you want to help me come back to the right path, but all I’m doing is being myself!”</p><p>     Archie just rolled his eyes at her speech. “Well it’s true, isn’t it.”</p><p>     “What’s true?” Veronica breathed out, already knowing what he was going to say.</p><p>     “What we wrote on your locker. You’re just a slutty, stupid, sensitive, bitch.  ”</p><p>     Before anyone could move, Betty had crossed the room and slapped Archie. Hard. The sound of her hand meeting his cheek echoed between the walls.</p><p>     “If you ever talk to my best friend like that again, I <b> <em>will</em> </b> take my dad’s hunting rifle and shoot you point blank in the head without even hesitating.” Betty’s eyes were scary and intense, scaring the shit out of Archie. No one ever saw this side of Betty before. Honestly, Veronica liked it.</p><p>     “What the fuck is wrong with you, Betty?” Archie challenged. “You used to be this nice, perfect, I-only-wear-pink girl, now look at you! You’re threatening to fucking <em> shoot </em> me for God’s sake. Plus, you’re hanging out with those snakes!”</p><p>     “No, look at<em> you </em>, Archie!” Betty countered, her nostrils flaring. “You used to be a kind, friendly, helpful boy who I thought was absolutely amazing! Now, you’re writing mean things on people’s lockers and acting like a complete dick! What changed?!”</p><p>     “I’m not the one who changed!”</p><p>     Betty opened her mouth to beat Archie black and blue using words, but Veronica gently tugged on her hand before things could get worse. “Let’s go, Betty.” She said quietly, not in the mood to get Archie killed today.</p><p>     “But Vee-”</p><p>     “Bee, I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. Let’s just go. Please.” Veronica whisper-pleaded and took Toni’s and Betty’s hands with both of her own and led them to the door. Veronica looked up at Sweet Pea and Fangs, who looked <b>mad.</b> Not regular mad, like <em> really really </em> mad. “Please don’t get in any fights.” She begged before walking out the locker room and collapsing onto the floor once the door was shut, they were at least 12 feet away from the locker room, and she checked that there was no one in the hallway.</p><p>     “Is it true?” She asked as tears made their way down her cheeks without warning. “Is it true what Archie said?”</p><p>     <em> Slutty, stupid, sensitive, bitch. </em></p><p>
  <em>      Slutty, stupid, sensitive, bitch. </em>
</p><p>     <em> Slutty, stupid, sensitive, bitch. </em></p><p>
  <em>      Slutty, stupid, sensitive, bitch. </em>
</p><p>     The words echoed in Veronica’s mind, causing her to cry even harder. Hiram, Hermione, Archie, Reggie, Chuck, the mean girls from her old private school, her teachers that always thought of her as dumb, and her other classmates from boarding school were standing in a row, chanting the words over and over and over again.</p><p>     “Make it stop, please. Make it stop.” She pleaded as she covered her ears with her hands, shaking her head to get the noise out of it.</p><p>     “Veronica!” She could vaguely hear Toni and Betty calling her name and shaking her, but she was in too much pain to pay attention.</p><p>     Veronica felt like she was going to pass out. Her mind swarmed with thoughts; half telling her she was just a worthless piece of shit that could never be loved, and the other half telling her that she was a beautiful girl who was absolutely amazing.</p><p>     She didn’t know which to believe.</p><p>     Her insecurities were dragging her harshly by the wrist into a deep dark pit of self-hate, and there was no way to escape it.</p><p>     A large hand that was placed on her shoulder brought her back to reality with a gasp. Her eyes connected with Sweet Pea’s, which were filled with concern and worry.</p><p>     The tears kept flowing freely down her cheek as he watched her. She suddenly felt embarrassed to be seen so broken in front of him, and tried to turn away. He caught her shoulders before she could and pulled her into him, holding her tightly as she sobbed in his leather jacket. He practically engulfed her small figure into his jacket, whispering comforting words in her ear.</p><p>     “It’s okay. You’re okay.” Sweet Pea held her even tighter against him.</p><p>     He still didn’t let go when Kevin, Cheryl, and Jughead came running, asking about what happened.</p><p>     He still didn’t let go when everyone huddled around them to rub Veronica’s back soothingly or tell her everything Archie said was a lie and she was beautiful and amazing.</p><p>     He still didn’t let go when the bell that indicated class started rang.</p><p>     He finally let go when Kevin, Toni, Cheryl, and Betty pried Veronica off of him and led her to the bathroom to clean her up. She looked back at Sweet Pea as they were turning the corner and gave him a weak ‘thank you’ smile before resting her head back on Kevin’s shoulder as they left.</p><p>     “You okay?” Toni gently squeezed Veronica’s shoulder when they got to the bathroom as Cheryl fixed Veronica’s make up.</p><p>     “Yeah.” Veronica nodded. “Thank you guys.”</p><p>     “Anytime.” Toni flashed Veronica a bright grin. “Now that you’re okay, tell us what happened with Sweet Pea!”</p><p>     “Nothing.” Veronica scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. “Why?”</p><p>     “He comforted you in the hallway! Sweet Pea is a stone cold asshole who doesn’t show emotion, and he’s definitely not the type of person to wrap you up in a hug when you’re sad. Yet, he did for you!”</p><p>     “He was just being nice because I’m his boss’s daughter.” Veronica looked down and turned a dark shade of red.</p><p>     “<em> Or </em>, he’s crushing on you!” Kevin chimed from his spot perched on the sink counter.</p><p>     “He’s totally crushing on you.” Betty nodded.</p><p>     “He would never crush on a girl like me.” Veronica rolled her eyes at her friends’ persistence. </p><p>     “You mean someone sexy, fierce, badass, blunt, brave, and headstrong?” Cheryl challenged as she dabbed at Veronica’s cheeks with compact powder.</p><p>     “That’s exactly his type!” Toni insisted.</p><p>     Veronica groaned, but on the inside, she was ecstatic. She knew for a fact she had feelings for Sweet Pea, but did he have them for her? Did he also get the butterfly feeling in his stomach whenever they saw each other? Did his heart also race whenever they touched?</p><p>     <em> Forget it </em> , Veronica said in her mind when she came to her senses. <em> There is no way he could like me. There’s probably a million girls on the southside waiting to get their hands on him. There’s no way I can compete against them. They’re pretty. I’m not. There’s absolutely no way. </em></p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     “Veronica!” A voice rang in the empty hallway.</p><p>     “Sweet Pea, hey.” Veronica half-smiled at him, still a little embarrassed by her breakdown in the hallway earlier in the day.</p><p>     “How are you doing?” Sweet Pea asked as he fell into step beside her.</p><p>     “Fine.” She nodded awkwardly.</p><p>     Sweet Pea stopped walking and turned to face her, putting his hands firmly on her shoulders, looking her deeply in the eye. “Seriously though. Are you okay?”</p><p>     “Like I said, I’m fine.” Veronica looked away, tears prickling at the back of her eyes for a reason she didn’t even know.</p><p>     He pulled her into a hug for the second time in the day, resting his chin on the top of her head. “That wasn’t very convincing.”</p><p>     “I thought so too.” She laughed against his jacket.</p><p>     “I’m sorry for all the horrible things Archie said this morning.” His voice changed to a more serious/sympathetic tone.</p><p>     “I’m sorry that I wasted your time this morning and made you late to class.”</p><p>     “That was in no way a waste of my time. Plus, being with you is definitely much better than being in class.” Sweet Pea chuckled. </p><p>     Veronica tried to pull away, but Sweet Pea held her tightly against his chest. “I’m not letting you go until you tell me that you're okay. And be honest.”</p><p>     “I’m fine.” She said as strongly as possible, but it still came out weakly.</p><p>     “Nope.” He shook his head. “Try again.”</p><p>     “I'm okay, Pea.” She pulled away and smiled at him, more genuinely this time.</p><p>     “Great.” He seemed satisfied with her answer and let her slip out of his arms. “Do you need a ride home?”</p><p>     “I actually have cheer practice. I have to get going before Cheryl throws a tantrum and kicks me off the squad.”</p><p>     “Oh, ok. See you later princess.” He threw a wink over his shoulder before pushing through the school’s double doors and swinging a leg over his motorcycle.</p><p>     Suddenly, Veronica was confused. Was he just playing? Or did he seriously just wink at her? Was he just being nice to her because she was FP’s daughter? Or did he feel the same way she did? Or did he just want to be her friend, nothing more?</p><p>     Veronica groaned exasperatedly as she made her way to the gym. Boys were confusing.</p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     Kevin looked at his wristwatch, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited on the sidewalk. As a motorcycle pulled up next to him, his first instinct was to run, but he recognized the person on the motorcycle to be Fangs, who was smiling at him.</p><p>     “Need a ride, Keller?”</p><p>     “I’m waiting for my Dad to come pick me up, thanks though.” Kevin smiled politely at Fangs.</p><p>     “How long have you been waiting?”</p><p>     “30 minutes.”</p><p>     “He’s definitely not coming.” Fangs scoffed. “Wanna catch a ride with me or do you wanna walk home and get kidnapped?”</p><p>     Kevin rolled his eyes but swung his leg over the bike, holding tightly onto Fangs as he sped out of the school parking lot.</p><p>     “Why are you at school after hours? I would expect you to zoom away the second the bell rang.”</p><p>     “Detention.” Fangs shrugged.</p><p>     “What did you do this time?” Kevin questioned.</p><p>     “Called Mr. Brown a dick.”</p><p>     Kevin sighed heavily as Fangs pulled up onto the driveway, kicking down the stand once Kevin was off.</p><p>     “Wanna come in?” Kevin offered, adjusting the book bag on his shoulder awkwardly.</p><p>     “Sure.” Fangs followed Kevin into the empty house.</p><p>     “Dad’s not here. As usual.” Kevin muttered under his breath.</p><p>     “You okay?” Fangs asked as he plopped down onto the couch, noticing the sad expression on Kevin’s face.</p><p>     Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know. My dad is, like, <em> never </em> home anymore and I never know where he’s at. I’m a bit disappointed that I basically never get to see him. I just feel lonely all the time.”</p><p>     “I’m really sorry, Kevin.” Fangs looked at Kevin sympathetically.</p><p>     “What about you? Do you ever get lonely?”</p><p>     “Never.” Fangs laughed. “Like I said last night, Sweet Pea’s grandma is my guardian, so I share a trailer with her and Pea. Even though Toni has her own trailer with her grandpa and grandma, she’s <em> always </em> over, even if no one is home. I think she lives with us more than in her own trailer, not that I mind, of course. Pea’s grandma makes the best chocolate chip cookies, so maybe that’s the reason Toni’s always over. Anyway, it never gets lonely with the three of them.  ”</p><p>     “Sounds fun.” Kevin looked down at his feet and wished he could have that life. With people always around him. With his <em> family </em>always around him. When Fangs got home, he was greeted by a sweet old lady and some delicious chocolate chip cookies. When Kevin got home, he was greeted by leftover food from last night’s dinner to heat up.</p><p>     “You good?”</p><p>     Kevin snapped out of his daydream and weakly smiled at Fangs. “Yep, totally.”</p><p>     Fangs scooted a little closer. “You sure?”</p><p>     “Um, honestly, not really.”</p><p>     Fangs scooted even closer until their faces were just inches apart. “I’m sorry you always feel so lonely.”</p><p>     Kevin was drawn towards Fangs like they were magnets. There was no way in stopping the force that was pulling them together. He smashed his lips against Fangs’, grabbing his face with his hands. In less than a minute, Fangs was pulling Kevin’s shirt off, as well as his own. He threw them to god knows where and pushed Kevin back so that he was laying down with his back flat on the couch. Fangs practically jumped on Kevin, kissing him intensely and passionately. And the rest was history. </p><p>*****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     “Hey Betty.” Jughead entered the Blue and Gold, smiling at Betty as she sorted through some papers sitting on the desk.</p><p>     “Oh, hey Jughead. What are you doing here so early?”</p><p>     “Just wanted to help you out. I was betting you would be here.”</p><p>     “Yup, here I am. Just like every other morning.” <em> What a dumb thing to say </em>, Betty mentally scolded.</p><p>     “So, now that we’re alone,” Jughead set his bag on the chair and took Betty’s hands into his own. “Do you want to tell me about the scars on your palms?”</p><p>     Betty’s breath hitched in her throat. “H-how did you know?” She managed to stammer.</p><p>     “It’s not exactly hard to see.” Jughead lightly chuckled. “They’re right on your palms.”</p><p>     “Um, oh, well-”</p><p>     “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Betty.” Jughead gently smiled at her. “I don’t want to force you.”</p><p>     “No, no, it’s okay.” Betty shook her head. “Do you want the long story or the short story?”</p><p>     “Whichever you prefer.”</p><p>     “So, you’ve heard about my mom, right?”</p><p>     “I’ve heard she’s super scary.”</p><p>     “Yeah, but she’s also very controlling. She wants me to be this perfect girl that only wears pink dresses. She’s always wanted a flawless daughter. I don’t know why, but she does. And now that my sister is out of the picture, she’s turned to me for that.”</p><p>     “Your sister?” Jughead raised an eyebrow.</p><p>     “She’s pregnant. My mom put her in Sister’s of Quiet Mercy when we first found out. After a long time of begging from my dad and I,  Mom agreed to let Polly come back home. Mom doesn’t even speak to her. She’s passed her dreams of having a perfect daughter from Polly to me. My mom puts so much stress on me. She makes me wear dresses and cardigans all the time. She makes sure every inch of my room is pink. I’m not allowed to hang out with boys unless they’re approved by her and she’s met them and their parents. I can’t hang out with my friends past 9. I can’t-”</p><p>     “Sorry to interrupt, Betty, but how does that lead to you hurting yourself?” Jughead gently traced his thumb over the scars on her palms, looking at them closely.</p><p>     “Whenever I get mad at her, or mad at anyone, I do that. Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever expressed my anger.” Betty chuckled slightly, remembering her slapping Archie in the locker room.</p><p>     “Speaking of that, thanks for standing up for my sister yesterday. I’m so glad she found great friends like you at Riverdale High.” Jughead moved a little closer to Betty as he slowly closed Betty’s fist.</p><p>     “She’s pretty great herself.” Betty blushed, but took a small step forward, getting closer to Jughead.</p><p>     He nodded slightly, looking into her eyes with his own. She closed the space between them, pressing her lips against his. Thankfully, he kissed her back, taking her face in his hands and stepping even closer that nothing could get past between them. It was the best kiss Betty ever had. Until he pulled away.</p><p>     “No, no, Betty, we can’t do this.” He shook his head</p><p>     Betty’s heart dropped to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. “What, why? Jug, I like you. I really do. Why-”</p><p>     “I like you too, Betty. A lot. But look at us. I’m a serpent. You’re a northsider. Your mom would never approve of you dating me.”</p><p>     “So that’s what this is about? My mom?” Betty took a step away from Jughead.</p><p>     “Not just that. It’s dangerous on the southside, Betty. I’m the serpent prince. If the ghoulies learned we were dating, they would target you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”</p><p>     “Love is love, Jughead.” Betty took a shuddering breath before grabbing her bag and making her way towards the door. “No matter how dangerous the effects can be, you can’t repel the attraction.”</p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     Betty and Jughead made sure to avoid each other for the rest of the day. They didn’t make eye contact during lunch, nor did they talk to each other. They didn’t say anything even when their English teacher made them read and edit each other’s papers.</p><p>     Jughead was miserable. He knew he fucked up. Badly. He really really liked Betty, and he really wanted to be her boyfriend, but it was too dangerous for her.</p><p>     <em>  “Love is love, Jughead. No matter how dangerous the effects can be, you can’t repel the attraction.” </em></p><p>      Betty’s words repeated themselves in his mind the whole day. He was thinking about her all through class. He was thinking about her the whole ride home. He was thinking about her when FP assigned him, Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs on a run to Greendale.</p><p>     “Jug?” Toni raised her eyebrows at him. “You good?”</p><p>     “No, I’m not.” Jughead shook his head. “I fucked up big time.”</p><p>     “What happened.” Fangs questioned from the passenger seat.</p><p>     “Betty and I kissed this morning but then I told her we couldn’t happen because I was from the southside and it would be dangerous, but know I’m seriously regretting it.” Jughead rushed as everyone’s jaw fell open.</p><p>     “You and Betty kissed?!” Sweet Pea turned around to look at Jughead.</p><p>     “Eyes on the road, idiot! But yes, we did.”</p><p>     “You seriously screwed up.” Toni muttered, shaking her head.</p><p>     “I already said that, you don’t need to rub it in.” Jughead rolled his eyes.</p><p>     “Sweet Pea, go to Betty’s house, stat.” Toni ordered and turned to Jughead. “I’m not letting you break her heart.”</p><p>     “I’m pretty sure he already did.” Fangs quipped, earning a punch in the arm from Jughead.</p><p>     “What’s her address?” Sweet Pea asked.</p><p>     “111 Elm Street.” Jughead answered.</p><p>     “You already memorized her address, I see.” Sweet Pea snorted.</p><p>     “It’s not that hard to remember, because unlike you, I actually use my brain.”</p><p>     They argued back and forth until they got to Betty’s house. Jughead jumped out of the car and dragged Toni out of the backseat as he beckoned Sweet Pea and Fangs to get out of the car.</p><p>     “Why do we need to come?” Toni whined, but got out of the car.</p><p>     “Moral support.” He answered before ringing the doorbell, hoping it wasn’t Betty’s mom who answered the door. Instead, it was someone who he really didn’t expect to see.</p><p>*****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     When the door finally opened, Sweet Pea’s jaw dropped. Standing there was Veronica, wearing just a lacy black panties and bra set with a half finished tequila bottle in hand.</p><p>     Her tanned legs, slim stomach, and a little bit of cleavage were on show. She was fucking gorgeous.</p><p>     “Veronica?!” Jughead looked at her in disbelief.</p><p>     She decided to ignore him and looked over his shoulder to where Jughead's ‘moral support’ group was standing.</p><p>     “Hey handsome.” She purred, winking at Sweet Pea.</p><p>     He immediately blushed, his cheeks burning up in a second. Sweet Pea never got flustered. <em> Never </em>. And here he was, turning a bright red color from two words. “Um, h-hey.” He laughed nervously.</p><p>     “Oh, I was talking to Fangs.” Veronica deadpanned.</p><p>     Sweet Pea turned even more red, if that was even possible. “Oh, uh, um-”</p><p>     “Kidding, kidding!” Veronica burst into laughter, placing her elbow in Fangs’ shoulder to balance herself. “You’re so gullible.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea rubbed his neck, laughing along awkwardly. <em> You’re so stupid </em>, he said to himself.</p><p>     “Veronica, why are you naked?” Jughead asked with scrunched eyebrows.</p><p>     “I’m not naked, idiot.” She gestured to her bra and panties.</p><p>     “Fine, why are you-”</p><p>     “Veronica?” An annoying voice interrupted.</p><p>     Sweet Pea turned to see Archie standing on his driveway, looking at Veronica up and down. Was he really checking her out in front of all of them? That idiot. Sweet Pea really wanted to punch his perfect teeth out, but he was pretty sure Veronica wouldn’t exactly appreciate that.</p><p>     “Fuck off Archibald!” She hollered at him, flipping him off with both hands.</p><p>     “Why are you naked?” He asked, deciding to ignore it.</p><p>     “What is wrong with you people?? I’m not naked! Plus, stop talking to me. I’m still mad at you from yesterday.”</p><p>     Archie opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a nice-looking man who poked his head out the front door. “Leave them alone, Archie.”</p><p>     Archie grumbled but made his way to the front door.</p><p>     Veronica’s face broke out into a huge smile when she saw the man. “Hey Fred!!” She waved excitedly as the man laughed and waved back.</p><p>     “Hey kid!”</p><p>     Once they were back inside, Jughead turned to Veronica.</p><p>     “Why are you half-naked at Betty’s house?”</p><p>     “I got a better one, why are you at Betty’s house after you broke her heart?” She retorted.</p><p>     “She told you?”</p><p>     “Duh. That’s why I’m here.”</p><p>     “Huh?” Jughead was wearing a confused expression.</p><p>     “We’re having a girl’s night + Kevin because you broke my bestie’s heart into a bajillion pieces and we’re trying to glue it back together by distracting her.”</p><p>     “Wait, wait, you’re having this girl’s night because-”</p><p>     “Girl’s night + Kevin.” Veronica corrected.</p><p>     “Right. You’re having this girl’s night <em> + Kevin </em>because of me?”</p><p>     “That’s literally what she said.” Toni rolled her eyes from behind him. “And you better have a good explanation why I wasn’t invited to this thing.”</p><p>     “Ah, Toni, Toni, Toni. I knew you would ask that. I don’t think you would really appreciate it if Kevin started talking about Fangs’ dick.”</p><p>     Fangs choked on his saliva, causing him to break into a coughing fit. “You guys talk about those things?!!”</p><p>     “Obviously.” Veronica smirked at Fangs. “I heard <em> all </em> about last night. Kudos to you.”</p><p>     “First of all, ew. Second of all, get to the point, Jughead!” Toni slightly shoved Jughead to get him to start talking.</p><p>     “Oh yeah, um, could you tell Betty to come down? I need to talk to her.” Jughead looked around Veronica to see if Betty was there.</p><p>     “Why?” Veronica narrowed her eyes at him.</p><p>     “I want to apologize and tell her I want to be with her.”</p><p>     “Hmm, okay. Let me hear your apology speech first.”</p><p>     “Uh, I don’t really have one.”</p><p>     Veronica reached up and smacked Jughead upside the head. “What are you planning to say to her then?!”</p><p>     “I’m sorry?”</p><p>     “You’re gonna need more than that to win her back, dipshit.”</p><p>     “I’m still thinking.” He grumbled.</p><p>     “Well you better think fast.”</p><p>     “Okay, whatever, can I come in?”</p><p>     “This is a girl’s night + Kevin. Are you Kevin?”</p><p>     “No?”</p><p>     Are you a girl? Do you have a vagina?”</p><p>     “What, no!”</p><p>     “You just answered your own question.” Veronica stated proudly. “You can’t come in.”</p><p>     Jughead rolled his eyes and groaned. “Could you at least send her out?”</p><p>     She nodded excitedly. “Betty boop, it’s for you!”</p><p>     ****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     “Whatever you need to say, say it now. I don’t have all day.” Betty impatiently tapped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest.</p><p>     “I wanted to say I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry. I’m sorry I pushed you away, even though we have undeniable chemistry. I guess I was just scared of what would happen to you if we started dating. But, like you said, I can’t repel the attraction. I like you so much, Betty. I love your sparkling eyes. I love your beautiful smile. I love your cute giggle. I love your-”</p><p>     “Get to the point, Jug!” Veronica peeked her head out from behind the door.</p><p>     “Stop eavesdropping!” Jughead pushed her head back behind the door. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is: will you be my girlfriend, Betty Cooper?”</p><p>     Betty launched herself into Jughead’s arms and pulled him into an enthusiastic kiss. “Yes.” She mumbled. He could taste tequila on her lips. </p><p>     Toni, Fangs, and Sweet Pea all whooped from their spot in the car where Jughead made them go so he and Betty could have a private conversation. They still managed to listen in though.</p><p>     Veronica swung the door open and pried Betty off Jughead to give her a tight hug.</p><p>     “You're gonna be the best sister-in law ever!” Veronica giggled as she twirled Betty around.</p><p>     “We’re only in high school, Vee.” Betty playfully shoved Veronica, but her cheeks already turned crimson.</p><p>     Kevin and Cheryl came bursting through the door, wrapping Betty up into a group hug.</p><p>     “If you guys have a baby girl, name her Cheryl!” The red-head bubbled.</p><p>     “If you guys have a baby boy, name him Kevin!”</p><p>     “Kev, you’re totally off.” Veronica chimed in.</p><p>     “No, no, Veronica, don’t you dare.” Jughead warned.</p><p>     “Oh, I dare.” She grinned evilly at him and looked at Cheryl and Kevin. “He’ll be named Forsythe Pendleton Jones IIII.”</p><p>     “Who’s the third?” Sweet Pea asked with a smirk.</p><p>     “None other than the darling brother, of course.”</p><p>     Jughead groaned as everyone laughed hysterically. “I hate you, Veronica.”</p><p>     "Love you too, Forsythe."</p><p>     </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. All that you are is all that I'll ever need</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Oh. My. God.” Kevin breathed out with wide eyes.<br/>Cheryl, Betty, and Toni gasped at the sight.<br/>“Veronica, honey, I’m so sorry.” Toni reached across the table and squeezed Veronica’s hand.<br/>She knew it. She knew Sweet Pea didn’t like her. She knew it. She knew she wasn’t pretty enough. She knew she wasn’t enough for him. She knew it. What she didn’t know was how she actually believed Sweet Pea liked her for a second there. She didn’t know why. She felt so stupid.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Are you a Pop's girl or a Mia's girl? Or both? I'm a Pop's girl ;)<br/>-Sam &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Sweet Pea watched as a black Mercedes Benz pulled up next to the curb, blasting heavy metal rock music that could be heard from a mile away. Veronica, Betty, Kevin, and Cheryl stumbled out, the 4 friends looking half put together as they adjusted their sunglasses in the light.</p><p>     Betty’s iconic ponytail was nowhere to be seen, instead having her hair rest on her shoulders. Cheryl’s red hair was messed up, like she just woke up, and Kevin was tripping with every step he took. Veronica’s pearls were missing and instead of her usual dress, she was wearing skinny light jeans with a black sleeveless turtleneck. Her heels were also long gone, and instead she was wearing cork sandals.</p><p>     Sweet Pea said it once (more like a million times), he was gonna say it again. She was beautiful.</p><p>     “Why is this school so fucking loud.” Veronica groaned as she leaned against her locker.</p><p>     “Because it’s a school?” Sweet Pea quipped.</p><p>     He could feel her death glare through her aviator sunglasses. “You’re only making it even louder, so shut up.”</p><p>     “Ah, my dear sister, always so kind.” Jughead snorted as he kissed Betty sweetly.</p><p>     “Ew,” Veronica fake gagged. “Get a room.”</p><p>     “Weren’t you the one who was practically begging us to get together?”</p><p>     “I never said to swallow each other whole right in front of me. Plus, my head hurts and you're making it hurt even more with your gross cuteness.”</p><p>     “You’re just jealous.” Betty gently shoved Veronica with a giggle.</p><p>     “Maybe I am.” Veronica grumbled as she aggressively slammed her locker shut.</p><p>     “If you’re lonely, Reggie has made it very clear he’s open.” Toni offered with a smirk, causing Veronica to fake gag again, but even louder this time.</p><p>     “I would rather stay single my whole life.”</p><p>     “I’m always open.” Sweet Pea confidently opened his arms out as if he was inviting her into a hug.     </p><p>     Jughead narrowed his eyes at him and Veronica raised an eyebrow.</p><p>     “Sorry Sweets,” She gave his cheek two hard pats. “I don’t do that side chick shit.”</p><p>     “Huh?”</p><p>     “ You know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably got at least 10 girls waiting on the southside to jump on your bones after school.” Veronica rolled her eyes and continued talking when Sweet Pea opened his mouth to speak. “C’mon Cher, let’s get to class before I end up breaking someone’s neck.”</p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     Sweet Pea twirled his ring around this finger, listening to the clock tick each second in the silent room. Fangs was to the left of him, tapping his foot impatiently while Toni was on the right of him, picking at her nails. Archie and Reggie were sitting behind him, the red head staring off into space and the dumb jock sleeping on his desk.</p><p>     Betty, Kevin, and Cheryl slowly made their way inside the empty room, surprising everyone. It wasn’t that hard to believe Cheryl got detention, but Betty and Kevin? No way.</p><p>     “Why are you guys here?” Fangs asked as they took a seat.</p><p>     “I poured ice cold water on Archibald’s head because he was being an idiot.” Cheryl glared at Archie, who came back to reality.</p><p>     “Cheryl got detention and we told the teacher it wasn’t her fault, so he put us in detention too.” Kevin gestured to Betty.</p><p>     “Thanks for landing me in detention too even though I didn’t do anything.” Archie growled sarcastically.</p><p>     “It’s your fault-” Cheryl started.</p><p>     “Talking will not be tolerated.” Mr. Brown’s voice boomed from the front of the room. “Unless you want to stay here for an extra hour.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea shot Mr. Brown the middle finger from under the desk before going back to looking at the clock.</p><p>     Suddenly, the door flew open and Veronica came running in screaming with Jughead at her heels. “HELP! MY PSYCHOTIC BROTHER IS TRYING TO KILL ME!”</p><p>     She ran around the room as Jughead chased after her, a murderous expression on his face.</p><p>     Veronica suddenly stopped mid-scream, looking down and admiring her sandals. “These things are much better than heels for running away from crazy brothers. Plus, they’re super cute.” She continued running when she realized Jughead was catching up, weaving through the spread out desks.</p><p>     “I thought you learned your lesson to not take my food when I gave you a black eye 5 years ago for stealing my fry!” He yelled.</p><p>     “Well I thought <em> you </em> learned your lesson to share your food when I gave you a black eye right back!” She tossed over her shoulder.</p><p>     “Well I didn’t!”</p><p>     “Neither did I!”</p><p>     “EVERYONE STOP!” Mr. Brown stood up, causing Veronica to freeze, and that causing Jughead to crash into her. “How dare you barge into my classroom and think I would be okay with that?!!”</p><p>     “Nobody here thought you would be okay with that.” Veronica rolled her eyes.</p><p>     Mr. Brown took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. “Does either of you want to explain to me what’s going on?”</p><p>     “She stole a chip from me.” Jughead crossed his arms over his chest.</p><p>     “It was <em> one </em>chip!!” Veronica argued.</p><p>     “Exactly! I could’ve eaten that chip!”</p><p>     “You had a party sized bag!!’</p><p>     “Your point is?”</p><p>     “My point is that-”</p><p>     “STOP!” Mr. Brown slammed his hand onto his desk, papers scattering everywhere.</p><p>     “Chill out, Mr. Brown.” Jughead scoffed.</p><p>     “Seriously.” Veronica agreed. “You really need to get laid.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea held back laughter as Mr. Brown turned a deep shape of red. He looked <b>mad</b>. “That’s it. Both of you. Detention.”</p><p>     Veronica threw her head back and let out a huge groan as she plopped down at the nearest desk, which happened to be in front of Sweet Pea, and Jughead took a seat next to her.</p><p>     An iPhone ringtone disturbed the silence and Mr. Brown’s head shot up, ready to yell at someone. He quickly scrambled out of the room when he realized the phone was his. “This is important, I need to take this. Give me 10 minutes.” He said before answering the phone and closing the door behind him, and a faint ‘hello?’ was heard.</p><p>     Veronica kicked Jughead’s shin, earning a loud ‘oww’ from him. “Thanks to you, I got detention for the first time.” </p><p>     “Second time.” Kevin corrected, his eyes not leaving the book he was reading.</p><p>     “Oh?” Sweet Pea leaned forward. “What did you do?”</p><p>     “She punched me.” Reggie chimed in, now awake after the loud chase that was going on.</p><p>     Sweet Pea raised his eyebrows at Veronica, impressed.</p><p>     “ ‘Cause you can’t take a fucking hint.” Veronica glared at Reggie.</p><p>     “Are you kidding me, Veronica?” Reggie rolled his eyes. “One second your fucking me at my birthday party and the next you’re not even looking at me.”</p><p>     Everyone in the room -except for Kevin, Cheryl, and Betty- choked on their own spit.</p><p>     “You what??!!” Sweet Pea and Jughead yelled simultaneously.</p><p>     “I was drunk with a capital d that night.” Veronica snarled, her eyes not leaving Reggie’s as they competed in an intense stare down. “It was by far the worst decision I’ve ever made.”</p><p>     “Just because she made one bad decision while she was drunk doesn’t mean she wants to marry you.” Cheryl rolled her eyes at the jock. ”I’ve slept with plenty of guys and girls when I was drunk, doesn’t mean I actually like them.”</p><p>    Reggie decided to ignore her.  “You liked it, didn’t you?” He smirked at Veronica.</p><p>     Before Sweet Pea could even stand up to beat the utter hell out of Reggie, Veronica slipped her sandal off her foot in a flash and hurled it 100 miles per hour. It whooshed past Sweet Pea’s ear and hit Reggie smack-dab in the eye.</p><p>     “What the hell, Veronica??!!’ He yelled angrily as he put his hands over his left eye. </p><p>     “Oops.” She smiled innocently at a fuming Reggie. “My latina instincts must’ve gotten the best of me.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea tried not to laugh out loud as Reggie threw the shoe back at her, and she caught it with a sweet smile as she put it back on her foot. “Thanks, love.”</p><p>     Mr. Brown rushed into the room and pulled his coat off his chair and put it on hurriedly. “I have a family emergency, I’ll be back in 20 minutes. No talking or goofing around. Don’t even think about leaving before you're allowed to, there’s security cameras in the hallways.” He warned before running off.</p><p>     “He really trusts us to sit still for 20 minutes?” Fangs scoffed as he walked to the front of the room and plopped himself down in Mr. Brown’s chair.</p><p>     Sweet Pea joined Fangs at the front of the room, opening all the drawers in the desk and rummaged through them.</p><p>     “Ah-ha!” He pulled out the english test answer sheet, waving it in the air in victory. He snapped a picture of it before tucking it away where he found it.</p><p>     “You can’t just cheat, Sweet Pea. If you want to have a good future, then start actually paying attention in class and trying your best in school.” Betty looked up from her book and gave Sweet Pea a disappointed look.</p><p>     “Live a little bit, Cooper. Don’t be such a goody-two-shoes.” Sweet Pea scoffed at her.</p><p>     “You talk to my Betty like that again, I’ll chop off your balls.” Veronica warned, not looking up from her phone.</p><p>     “For once, the thug is right. Let’s have some fun instead of sitting here for the next 20 minutes doing nothing.” Reggie offered, looking around.</p><p>     After a couple minutes of convincing Betty, everyone was sitting in a circle, getting ready to play truth or dare.</p><p>     Reggie scanned the group closely, deciding who his victim was going to be. His gaze landed on Veronica.</p><p>     “Veronica, truth or dare.”</p><p>     “Truth.” She shrugged.</p><p>     “Have you ever kissed a girl before?”</p><p>     Veronica nodded with a smile.</p><p>     “Who??” Reggie inquired curiously.</p><p>     “My girl, Bee.”</p><p>     Jughead looked at the two girls in utter shock, while Sweet Pea was imagining Veronica and Betty kissing. That would be super hot, no doubt. </p><p>     “You kissed my girlfriend?!” Jughead looked at Veronica with wide eyes.</p><p>     “Calm down, Jug.” Betty laughed as she tucked herself into his side. “It was during cheer tryouts when Veronica first came to Riverdale High. Cheryl wanted ‘spice’, so we delivered. It was just for tryouts.”</p><p>     “Yep, toootally. Just for tryouts.” Veronica winked at Betty with a seductive smile, giving Jughead more nervousness and making Sweet Pea even harder.</p><p>     “I swear, Veronica, if you steal my girlfriend from me, I will never speak to you again.”</p><p>     “It’s not my fault I got the genes from Mom’s side.” Veronica smirked as she swiped her tongue over her bottom lip. “No one can keep their hands off of this spicy latina.”</p><p>     Jughead groaned loudly and shoved Veronica before wrapping Betty up in his arms. “Hide your wife, hide your husband, hide your boyfriend, hide your girlfriend. Veronica Jones if coming after them.”</p><p>     Veronica shoved him back and rolled her eyes at her brother’s antics.</p><p>     “Alright,” She looked around with a mischievous smile. “Sweet Pea. Truth or dare.”</p><p>     “Dare.” He said without hesitation.</p><p>     “I <em> dare </em>you tell me your real name.”</p><p>     “You can’t do that!” He complained.</p><p>     “Technically, she can.” Fangs smirked.</p><p>      “I hate you, Fogarty.” He growled before crawling across the floor to Veronica and leaning into her ear. He noted that she smelled like a mix of cinnamon and lavender. But in a non-creepy way. </p><p>     “Solomon Peabrook.” He whispered quietly in her ear so that no one else could hear and studied her reaction.</p><p>     “That’s not even that bad.” She shrugged.</p><p>     “Yes it is!” He argued.</p><p>     “It’s kinda cute.” She smiled at him, causing Sweet Pea to turn a pinkish color and look down.</p><p>     “Betty, truth or dare.” He mumbled.</p><p>     “Dare.”</p><p>     “I dare you to flash Jughead.”</p><p>     Betty looked at Sweet Pea with huge eyes and Jughead broke into a coughing fit.</p><p>     “Do I have to?!”</p><p>     “You can either flash all of us or just Jughead.” He smirked. “Your  choice.”</p><p>          Betty covered her flushed face with her hands. “Everyone turn around.” She groaned.</p><p>          Everyone turned around and closed their eyes, except for Jughead, obviously. Sweet Pea laughed loudly when he heard a small squeak-like sound come out of Jughead.</p><p>      “You can turn back around.” Sweet Pea heard Betty mumble.</p><p>      “How was it, Jug?” Veronica playfully bumped her shoulder against her brother’s.</p><p>      “Shut up.”</p><p>      “Toni, truth or dare.” Betty said.</p><p>      “Truth, I guess.” She shrugged.</p><p>      “Rate your night with Cheryl a few days ago out of 10?”</p><p>      “10/10.” Toni grinned hugely.</p><p>      “Whooo, look at youuu!!” Veronica poked at Cheryl teasingly, who playfully pushed Veronica.</p><p>      “What is it with everyone pushing me today.” She grumbled.</p><p>      “Cheryl, truth or dare.” Toni smirked.</p><p>      “Truth.”</p><p>      “Would you fuck me again?”</p><p>      “Yes, obviously.” Cheryl winked.</p><p>      “Ew, stop.” Archie covered the view with his hands.</p><p>      “Archibald, truth or dare.” Cheryl huffed.</p><p>      “Dare.”</p><p>      “I dare you to kiss Reggie.”</p><p>      Both boys looked at each other with wide eyes. “What the hell?!!”</p><p>      Cheryl shrugged, an evil smile on her face.</p><p>     “Fine.” Archie and Reggie kissed for one second before pulling away and wiping their mouths aggressively.</p><p>     “Veronica, truth or dare.” Archie said.</p><p>     “Truth?”</p><p>     “Have you had a boy ever sneak into your room?"</p><p>     Veronica nodded, her eyes twinkling.</p><p>     “Once or multiple times?” Archie was suddenly very interested in the conversation.</p><p>     “Many, <em> many </em>, times.” Veronica emphasized.</p><p>     “The same guy many times or lots of different guys?”</p><p>     “The same guy lots and lots of times.” </p><p>     “Does he still sneak into your room?”</p><p>     “Does he currently still sneak into my room? Yes, he does.” Veronica smiled.</p><p>     Sweet Pea looked like he was going to kill someone while Jughead looked utterly shocked.</p><p>     “Who??!!” Archie said with wide eyes.</p><p>     “You've asked way too many questions.” She giggled. “I’m not answering any more.”</p><p>     “Veronica,” Jughead growled in a dangerously deep voice. “You tell me now or else I’ll burn this whole school down.”</p><p>     “Go ahead.” Veronica smirked. “I don’t like school that much anyways.”</p><p>     “Veronica.” Sweet Pea looked deep into her beautiful chocolate eyes. “Just tell us.”</p><p>     “Fine.” She sighed dramatically. “Drumroll please. The guy isssssssssssssss…. Kevin!!”</p><p>     Sweet Pea let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and chuckled lightly to himself.</p><p>     “You little bitch!” Jughead tackled Veronica, who was laughing hysterically.</p><p>     Kevin was on the floor, holding his stomach and cackling next to Betty and Cheryl. He high-fived Veronica, who was still crushed under Jughead. “Good one, Ronnie.”</p><p>     “Why does Kevin need to sneak into your room?” Reggie scrunched his eyebrows together.</p><p>     “According to Hiram, Kevin is ‘too gay’.” Veronica rolled her eyes after she managed to push Jughead off of her with Sweet Pea’s help. “He doesn’t exactly like Kev.”</p><p>     “Don’t worry, babe.” Fangs wrapped his arms around Kevin. “Too gay is the kind of gay I’m looking for.”</p><p>     “Awwww,” Veronica wiped away her fake tears and rested her head on Cheryl’s shoulder. “This is so heartwarming.”</p><p>     “Well sorry to ruin your heartwarming moment, but Mr. Brown is coming.” Sweet Pea gestured to the figure in the hallway.</p><p>     “Oh shit, it’s already been 20 minutes?!” Everyone scrambled to their seats hurriedly right before Mr. Brown came in and collapsed in his seat.</p><p>     “You guys can leave now.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea collected his stuff (which wasn’t much) and rushed out of the room, but a small hand on his chest stopped him from taking another step. He was met with Josie McCoy, the girl who gave them their schedules on their first day here and he shared a few classes with. Whenever the teacher told them to find a partner to do something, Josie was always next to him in a second for some reason, so Sweet Pea decided she was just being nice to him.</p><p>     “Oh, hey Josie.”</p><p>     “Hey, Sweet Pea.” She smiled at him sweetly.</p><p>     “Do you need something?”</p><p>     “Yes, actually. I was wondering if you wanted to come to Pop’s with me.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea’s eyebrows pulled together. “Like a date?”</p><p>     “Yeah.” She giggled.</p><p>     “Oh.” Sweet Pea looked at Veronica who was hopping down the stairs in front of the school, hand in hand with Cheryl and laughing happily. A girl like Veronica would never like a guy like Sweet Pea. He took a deep breath and faced Josie, who was waiting for his response. “Sure."</p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>“Veronica?”</p><p>     The brunette sat up straighter, coming back to reality. “Yes?”</p><p>    “She was asking for your order.” Betty gestured to the waitress looking at Veronica patiently with a smile.</p><p>     “Oh, right, sorry. I’ll get a chocolate shake, please.”</p><p>     “Sure, no problem!” The waitress bubbled and made her way behind the counter.</p><p>     “I know for a fact you were thinking about Sweet Pea.” Toni smirked. “Are you gonna make a move on him?”</p><p>     Veronica groaned as her friends nodded excitedly in agreement. “Guys, he doesn’t even like me.”</p><p>     “Yes he does!” Toni insisted. “As his best friend, I can confirm he likes you so much!”</p><p>     “If he liked me, he would’ve asked me out already.” Veronica smiled at the waitress as she slid the milkshakes onto the table.</p><p>     “He’s nervous!”</p><p>     “He doesn’t seem like one of those people who gets nervous around girls.” Veronica scoffed into her glass.</p><p>     “How oblivious are you, Veronica?” Cheryl groaned. “He blushes whenever you talk to him!”</p><p>     “Does not.”</p><p>     “Does too!”</p><p>     “Betty’s right, Ronnie. He’s head over heels for you.” Kevin grinned.</p><p>     “Really?” Veronica was starting to believe her friends, but the moment was short lived when the little bell on the door rang.</p><p>     Veronica wasn’t planning on turning around to see who it was, but when Kevin’s fry (actually, it was her fry, he stole it) dropped out of his hand, she knew something was wrong. Her heart dropped when she saw what he was looking at. Sweet Pea sauntered into Pop’s as handsome as ever with his sexy leather jacket, badass walk, and a curl resting on his forehead like a crown.  But that wasn’t the thing that made Veronica’s heart drop. Josie McCoy was at his heels and followed him to a booth on the other side of the diner. </p><p>     “Oh. My. God.” Kevin breathed out with wide eyes.</p><p>     Cheryl, Betty, and Toni gasped at the sight. </p><p>     “Veronica, honey, I’m so sorry.” Toni reached across the table and squeezed Veronica’s hand.</p><p>     She knew it. She knew Sweet Pea didn’t like her. She knew it. She knew she wasn’t pretty enough. She knew she wasn’t enough for him. She knew it. What she didn’t know was how she actually believed Sweet Pea liked her for a second there. She didn’t know why. She felt so stupid.</p><p>     “Do you want me to take you home, babes?” Kevin squeezed Veronica’s shoulder. </p><p>     “Sure, Kev. That would be great.”</p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     Veronica stared at the ceiling of her room as she was sprawled across her bed, thinking. Thinking and thinking. That was all she could do. She was thinking about him. She was thinking about how stupid she was for believing they had a special connection. After a while of thinking, she came to the decision that she wasn’t stupid. Any other girl would’ve also fallen for his tricks and thought he actually liked them. Apparently, he didn’t. His dimpled smiles didn’t mean anything. His flirty winks didn’t mean anything. His warm hugs didn’t mean anything. His comforting words didn’t mean anything. Nothing at all. Luckily, he found a girl that actually deserved him before Veronica listened to her friends and poured her heart out to him, only to be rejected.</p><p>     Veronica slowly got up and made her way to her door when a sharp knock interrupted her thought process. She was met with her mother.</p><p>     “Mija, we have to talk to you in the living room.”</p><p>     Veronica followed her mother suspiciously. They never had ‘talks’ or family meetings.</p><p>     She slowly took a seat as her eyes darted between Hermione and Hiram.</p><p>     “We have to talk to you about something important.” Hiram’s deep voice broke the silence.</p><p>     “Um, okay?” Veronica narrowed her eyes at her mom and step-father.</p><p>     “I’m not going to beat around the bush, Veronica.” Hiram took a sip of his rum. “Andre said he saw your brother and his friends when he dropped you off at school this morning. Answer honestly because I already know the truth and there’s no point in lying; is your brother one of the southside transfers at your school?” Hiram got up in Veronica's face, which was something she didn’t like at all.</p><p>     “Yes.” Like he said, there was no point in lying.</p><p>     Hiram sighed heavily and sat back on the couch. “That’s it. You’re going back to boarding school.”</p><p>     Veronica’s eyes widened. No. No way in hell she was going back there. She refused to even imagine what it would be like if she saw Nick St. Clair again.  “No.”</p><p>     “You don’t get a say in this.”</p><p>     “Actually, my love,” Hermione spoke up. “I would like my daughter to stay in Riverdale. I missed her dearly when she was gone, I don’t want her to leave again.”</p><p>     Hermione and Hiram competed in a silent staredown before Hiram rolled his eyes and faced Veronica.</p><p>     “If you want to stay at Riverdale High, then you are not allowed to talk to your brother ever again. You are not even allowed to look at him. You are not allowed to eat lunch with him. You will never be allowed to talk to him again in your entire life. ”</p><p>     “No.”</p><p>     Hermione reached out to touch her daughter’s hand. “Mija-”</p><p>     “No, mom.” Veronica jerked her hand away. “I will never, ever, let Jughead go.”  </p><p>     “Then leave.” Hiram growled.</p><p>     “Leave?” Veronica was confused.</p><p>     “You heard me. Get your bags and go. I don’t care where you go, just leave this house.”</p><p>     “You’re kicking me out?” Veronica asked with a shaky voice.</p><p>     “Yes, I am.”</p><p>     “That’s bullshit. You can’t kick me out of a house that’s not yours!” Veronica stood up. </p><p>     “This is my house now.” Hiram also stood up and moved closer to Veronica. “And I don’t want you in it.”</p><p>     Veronica looked at her mom, who sat there silently. Veronica wanted to cry. She was being kicked out of her house by a person who she didn’t even share the same last name with. And her mom was just sitting there quietly and letting it happen.</p><p>     Andre handed her a filled bag. <em> Her </em> bag. “Miss Lodge, I already packed for you.”</p><p>     Of course he did.</p><p>     She grabbed the bag, grabbed her keys, pulled out of the parking lot, and zoomed away to the place she used to call home.</p><p>****************************************</p><p> </p><p>     Veronica hesitantly knocked on the trailer door 3 times before it opened, revealing none other than Sweet Pea. </p><p>     <em> Oh great. </em></p><p>     “Oh, hey, Veronica.” His eyes scrunched up in confusion when he saw the bag she was clutching with a dangerously tight grip.</p><p>     “Hey, is my brother or dad home?”</p><p>     “Veronica?” She heard her brother call.</p><p>     She looked around Sweet Pea to see Jughead, Betty, Kevin, and Fangs on the couch while Toni, Cheryl, and Josie were sitting on the floor with blankets and pillows around them.</p><p>     “Am I interrupting something or…” Veronica looked down at the feet.</p><p>     “No, no,” Betty quickly stood up. “We were having a couple’s movie night. We didn’t invite you because we thought you would feel lonely.”</p><p>     “Cool.” Veronica nodded slowly. “So, I’m just gonna go-”</p><p>     “No, it’s cool.” Jughead shook his head. “What’s with the bag?”</p><p>     Veronica stepped inside, deciding to avoid the question. She looked around the familiar trailer as everyone watched her. “I see you and Dad haven’t changed anything at all.” She chuckled lightly.</p><p>     “Veronica. The bag?” </p><p>     “Oh, it’s nothing, Hiram just kicked me out and I have no place to live. Anyway, where’s dad? Is he-” Veronica said as casually as possible.</p><p>     “Wait, wait, wait,” Sweet Pea made a ‘time out’ sign with his hands. “Did you just say your step-dad kicked you out?”</p><p>     “Yeah, so anyways-”</p><p>     “Veronica, why are you saying that like it's so simple?” Jughead stood up from his stop on the couch.</p><p>     Veronica looked down and bit her lip.</p><p>     “Wait, why did he kick you out?” Kevin tilted his head questioningly. </p><p>     “ ‘Cause he’s an asshole.” Veronica’s voice cracked slightly as tears welled up in her eyes and she pressed her lips together.</p><p>     Sweet Pea took her in his arms without hesitation, tightly wrapping his arms around her. She felt so safe as she silently cried in his flannel, his strong arms around her drowning out her fears and worries.</p><p>     “Why are you crying?” He whispered softly in her ear.</p><p>     “I don’t know.” She said between sobs. “I feel like I’m not good enough.”</p><p>     “You’re perfect.” He assured as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. </p><p>     “I don’t know about that, perfect is a pretty strong word.”</p><p>     “You’re <em> my </em>definition of perfect.”</p><p>     “And what’s your definition of perfect, again?” Veronica giggled quietly, her tears slowing down.</p><p>     “Someone who’s strong. Someone who’s brave. Someone who’s amazing. Someone who’s-”</p><p>     “Excuse me?” Josie was now standing up with her arms crossed over her chest and a deep scowl painted on her lips. “Please get off of him.”</p><p>     “Josie, she’s just-” Sweet Pea frowned.</p><p>     “Please get off of him.” She repeated, not taking her eyes off Veronica’s.</p><p>     “Josie-”</p><p>     “No, it’s fine.” Veronica cut Sweet Pea off, stepping away from his grip. “Sorry.” She mumbled to Josie before being engulfed into a warm embrace by Fangs and pulled onto the couch by him.</p><p>     “Oh, mi cariño…” Fangs said sympathetically as he tightened his hold around Veronica.</p><p>     “You’re more than welcome here, Veronica.” Jughead squeezed her shoulder and picked up her bag. “You’ll stay in your old room. You’ll be happy to hear we didn’t change that at all either.”</p><p>     “And Sweet Pea,” Jughead turned towards the tall boy. “You should probably take her and leave.” He motioned to Josie.</p><p>     Sweet Pea nodded slowly and led Josie out the door.</p><p>****************************************</p><p>     </p><p>     Veronica sat on the porch steps, looking up at the beautiful night sky that was filled with stars. In a way, she was glad that she got kicked out of the Pembrooke. She never got experiences like this there. She never got to sit outside by herself and admire the night sky peacefully. The clomps of her mother’s heels and her step-dad’s yelling would always ruin the peaceful mood. But sometimes, she didn’t want silence. She wanted to always be surrounded by people who loved her and were always talking. Secretly, Veronica hated her apartment. It was too big for her liking. She wanted to live in a small and cozy house where it was always warm and cheerful. Veronica was never happy at the Pembrooke. But here? Here, she felt like she could be happy. She was too distracted in her thoughts to notice the loud crunch of gravel under Sweet Pea’s combat boots.</p><p>     “Veronica?”</p><p>     “Oh, hey.” Veronica scooted over to make space for him on the step. “What’s up?”</p><p>     “Just wanted to check in on you.” He smiled at her gently.</p><p>     “I’m fine.”</p><p>     “Great.” He nodded nervously.</p><p>     “You should probably go before your girlfriend finds out you were talking to me.” Veronica rolled her eyes.</p><p>     “She’s not my girlfriend.” Sweet Pea chuckled lightly. “I told her we should stop hanging out.”</p><p>     “What? Why?”</p><p>     “She was being extremely bitchy to you this afternoon.”</p><p>     “Sweet Pea,” Veronica turned to face him. “I don’t want you to have trouble because of me.”</p><p>     “It’s not any trouble.” He insisted.</p><p>     Veronica smiled at him gently and placed her hand on his thigh. “Thank you.”</p><p>     Sweet Pea slowly leaned forward, and Veronica’s heart almost stopped. </p><p>
  <em>      Is he about to kiss me? What the hell is going on? Oh my god he’s actually about to kiss me. What the fuck. Am I dreaming? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! </em>
</p><p>“Solomon!” A sweet voice called.</p><p>     “Sorry, that’s my gram. I gotta go.” He quickly got up and brushed off his pants, throwing a wink over his shoulder as he made his way to his trailer. “Good night, Veronica.”</p><p>     She rubbed her clammy palms across her thighs, taking a shuddering breath. “Good night, Sweet Pea.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please tell me your thoughts &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. You will forever be my always</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“What do you say, Veronica?” Sweet Pea smirked at her as he pulled away from the sweet kiss. “Be my girl?”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First of all, guys, I'm so so so sorry for the delay in this chapter. The past month has been SUPER busy and I couldn't find that much time to write. Sorry again :(</p><p>Secondly, I've decided to take out the Nick St Clair plot line from the story and add it to another story that will be coming soon (keep your eyes peeled). So I removed all the parts in the story that mentions that douche bag rapist</p><p>Lastly, this is the last chapter of the story!! To everyone who left a kudos, a comment, or even just opened the story, thank you so much for giving this a chance, ya'll are the best. I'm sorry that this story was really bad cause it was my first fanfic, but I'll try my best to make the upcoming ones better :) </p><p>Love you all!! &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span> “C’mon Kev, don’t be shy. Tell us some more.” Veronica playfully bumped her shoulder into Kevin’s as they walked down the sidewalk hand in hand along with Betty and Cheryl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “So, he’s great with his hands, but he’s even better with his tongue.” Kevin’s eyes sparkled as he swung their hands wildly between them. “He does this thing-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica pulled out her ringing phone out of her purse to see ‘Asshole’ on her screen accompanied by a not-so pretty picture of Jughead. “Hey.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Veronica, you need to come home.” Jughead was panting heavily on the other side of the phone, causing Veronica to launch into panic mode.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jughead, what’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “We had a war with the Ghoulies-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “War?!” Veronica’s eyes widened. “What the fuck do you mean ‘war’?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “There was a huge fight, Veronica. Sweet Pea got shot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Sweet Pea got shot??!” Veronica yelled out, and Kevin, Betty, and Cheryl looked at Veronica with shocked expressions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Not exactly shot.” Jughead took a deep breath. “He just got a pretty bad graze on his shoulder-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “We’re coming right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>****************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Veronica flung the trailer door open and stomped in angrily, her friends close behind her. She looked around hurriedly before settling her gaze and narrowing her eyes at the figure sitting on the couch who’s shoulder was tied up in a bandage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Guys, thank god you're here.” Jughead quickly got up from his spot on the other end of the couch and pulled a worried Betty into a tight hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica completely ignored him and marched up to Sweet Pea, her ankle boots making loud thuds on the floor. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off with a sharp slap on his cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Son of a bitch.” She spat out and continued talking before Sweet Pea could say anything. “Couldn't you be a little more careful?!!! Do you know how fucking scared you got me?! And all because you couldn’t learn how to fucking NOT GET SHOT!!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She opened her mouth to yell at him some more, but without another word, Sweet Pea stood up and smashed his lips against Veronica, resting his hands on her hips and bringing her closer. She was in shock for a second, but wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back deeply, all her anger melting into tiny little butterflies. He tasted like a mixture of cinnamon, honey, coffee, and maybe a teeny tiny bit of cigarette smoke. He tasted heavenly. Kissing Sweet Pea was unlike any other kiss Veronica had had before. He was soft and gentle, but firm at the same time. He pulled away to take a breath and gaze into her eyes with his own twinkling ones for a silent moment before meeting her soft lips again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Ahem.” FP’s gruff voice interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The two pulled away to find the whole room staring at them; FP with his eyes narrowed, Jughead with his eyebrows raised, Betty with both hands over her mouth, Cheryl beaming hugely, Kevin practically bouncing up and down in his spot with excitement, Toni with an ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I told you so’</span>
  </em>
  <span> look on her face, a proud smirk playing on Fangs’ face, and other Serpents staring with wide eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica immediately blushed and bit her lip nervously, stepping out of Sweet Pea’s arms and facing her dad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Boy, come with me.” FP motioned to Sweet Pea as he went into a room. Sweet Pea followed, but not before looking back and winking at Veronica with a playful smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>******************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “So, you wanna tell me what just happened?” FP crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Sweet Pea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Veronica and I kissed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well, obviously.” FP rolled his eyes. “I’m asking why.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I like her. A lot.” Sweet Pea rubbed his neck. “I’ve liked her since the moment I’ve laid eyes on her. I mean, can you blame me? She’s funny, nice, brave, beautiful, confident; what’s not to like?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “She’s pretty great.” FP chuckled lightly before going back to scowling. “I’ve watched you take hundreds and thousands of girls home from the bar, fuck them without even knowing their name, and never speak to them again ever in their life. How do I know you won’t do the same with my daughter?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Sweet Pea frowned. “I know I’ve had lots of one night stands, but this is different, FP. I feel like we have a special connection, you know? And I can assure you that I’m not after Veronica just for the sex.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Your past history with girls would like to concur.” FP joked dryly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’m telling you, Boss. This is different.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Fine.” FP sighed. “I guess I believe you, but it doesn’t matter if I believe you or not. It matters if Veronica does.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The door creaked open and Veronica’s head peeked out slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t killing him in here.” Veronica half-smiled at FP, who got up from the bed and made his way around Veronica.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You two should probably talk.” FP said before closing the door behind him. “No funny business in there!” He yelled from the other side of the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica blushed softly as she slowly took a seat next to Sweet Pea on the bed, twiddling her thumbs together. “Hi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Hey.” He grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She sat there with her lips pressed together as she looked at the ground and took a deep breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Okay, I’m just gonna get this over with. I like you, Sweet Pea. A lot. I’ve liked you ever since I saw you in the hall that day and you punched Reggie. I liked you even more when you took me home that night and talked to me, and yes, I remember very clearly what you said even though I was drunk. And I liked you even</span>
  <em>
    <span> more</span>
  </em>
  <span> when you hugged me at school that one day. And I didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>realize</span>
  </em>
  <span> how much I liked you until Jughead told me you got hurt and I went into full on panic mode. And I know that you probably just kissed me to shut me up or something, and you could definitely find someone better than me, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “No.” Sweet Pea shook his head. “I could never find someone better than you. I like you too, Veronica. A lot. Ever since I met you. I didn’t tell you because I thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> didn’t like </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “So I guess we were both pretty stupid, huh?” Veronica chuckled as she moved a bit closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah.” Sweet Pea breathed out in an almost whisper before taking her face in his hands and pressing his lips against hers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “What do you say, Veronica?” Sweet Pea smirked at her as he pulled away from the sweet kiss. “Be my girl?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Why not?” Veronica teased with a smile playing at her lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     A loud squeal was heard from outside the door, followed by an aggressive ‘SHHH!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica laughed as she opened the door, and all of their friends practically fell into the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Before Veronica could lecture them about the importance of not eavesdropping, Kevin, Betty, and Cheryl crushed her in a big group hug, everyone squealing and talking at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Took you guys long enough!” Cheryl teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, shut up.” Veronica giggled as she playfully shoved Cheryl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh my god, we should go on quadruple dates!!” Betty exclaimed. “We could go to Pop’s, and then go to the movies, and then go get ice-cream, and then-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “Calm down, Betty.” Veronica laughed as she placed her hands on Betty’s shoulders to stop her from bouncing up and down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “We should have a Girl’s Night + Kevin!!” Kevin bubbled. “It’ll be so much fun!! Toni, you should-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “No, no, no, no.” Toni shook her head. “I don’t want to hear about Fangs and Jughead’s dicks, thank you very much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Ew, good point.” Veronica cringed. “There’s no way I’ll be there Betty’s gonna talk about her sex life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Come on, Vee!” Betty whined. “You know I can’t control myself when I’m drunk!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Sorry Bee, but I think I’m better off without knowing how big my brother is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Please please please pleaaaaaase!” Betty begged. “I promise I’ll try to hold it in as much as I can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica rolled her eyes playfully. “Fine, whatever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yayyyy!” Betty squealed and wrapped her arms around Veronica. “We’re gonna have the best night ever!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>****************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One Month Later</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Veronica snuggled into Sweet Pea’s bare chest as he wrapped his strong arms around her, making her feeling safe and secure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “That was amazing, as usual.” Sweet pea let out a loud sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I agree.” Veronica smiled against his warm body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     For the past week, she kept on thinking and thinking. She thought about how protected she felt when she was in his arms. She thought about how happy she was whenever they were together. She thought about how ecstatic she got whenever she saw him. After all this thinking, she realized why she was feeling all these things. She realized why her heart started beating 20x faster whenever he kissed her sweetly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved him</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She loved him and there was no denying it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     For the past week, Veronica racked her brain of ideas. Ideas on how to tell him and where to tell him, but she could never think of the perfect time and place. She thought of telling him in a fancy place, like a restaurant or something. But this moment? This moment was more perfect than at a fancy restaurant. They were naked, vulnerable, and full of love. What other moment would be better than this one?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Baby?” Sweet Pea pulled away from her, shimmied down the bed to get to her eye level, and held her face in his hands. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “For what?” Veronica furrowed her eyebrows together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “For making me happy.” He beamed brightly. “You make me so happy, Veronica.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You make me happy too, Pea.” She smiled back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Before Veronica could even take a second to think, the words freely slid out of her mouth, shocking Sweet Pea </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> herself. “I love you, Sweet Pea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica immediately felt silly, wanting to bury her face in her hands and never show it to anyone ever again, but before she could apologize and make up an excuse, Sweet Pea smashed his lips against hers and kissed her with a mixture or sweetness, passion, and hunger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I love you too, Veronica.” He said as he pulled away and looked deep into her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica’s face immediately broke out into a cheeky grin. She took his face into her hands, kissing all over it as a hearty laugh escaped from Sweet Pea. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Veronica buried her face back into his chest, the smile never leaving her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>****************************************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>10 Years Later</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <span>“Shut up!” Veronica threw a piece of popcorn at her fiance, glaring at him with sharp eyes. “I’m trying to watch the movie!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> can’t exactly watch the movie either with you yelling at him.” Fangs chided, earning a hard smack to the head from Veronica.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You shut up too!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Owwww.” Fangs frowned and rubbed his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh my god!” Veronica’s hand immediately flew over her mouth and she burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Fangs!!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, mi cari</span>
  <span>ño, I was just joking. Don’t cry.” Fangs laughed as he brought Veronica into his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Don’t laugh! This is serious!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, </span>
  <em>
    <span>sooo</span>
  </em>
  <span> serious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Leave her alone, Fangs.” Kevin rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I swear, pregnant women are so sensitive.” Fangs chuckled, making Veronica cry even harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Don’t call me sensitive!” She sobbed as she pushed Fangs away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “That means you called me sensitive too!” Toni also burst into tears when she realized she was also pregnant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Betty shushed at Toni and Veronica, who were holding each other and crying. “Did you two forget that Abby cries whenever someone else cries?” She looked down at the 8 month old baby cooing in her lap, too focused on her mom’s bracelet to notice the scene going on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Don’t even start.” Jughead groaned. “I think the sound of her crying is the sound you hear when you enter Hell.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jughead!” Betty gasped at her husband’s words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Oh, come on, Betts. What did you expect me to say? </span>
  <em>
    <span>The sound of her cries are the peace to my soul, the calmness to my mind, and the relaxation to my body</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Jughead chuckled as he brought both his girls into his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You can stop being a smartass now.” Betty laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Never.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cheryl poked at Fangs. “You made them cry, now fix it.” She gestured to the two pregnant women huddled up together on the couch, still sobbing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “What do I say??”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Say sorry, genius.” Sweet Pea scoffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Okay, okay, fine.” Fangs rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry for calling you guys sensitive, even though you clearly are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Okay, that’s enough. You’re just making it worse.” Sweet let out an exasperated sigh as he pulled Veronica away from Toni and into his arms, Cheryl taking Toni.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Babe,” Kevin placed a hand on Fangs’ arm. “That was the worst apology I’ve ever heard in my life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Agreed.” Veronica sniffed. “Now shut up, so I can watch the movie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     As the movie played, Veronica took notice of everything going on around her, Sweet Pea’s fingers drawing small lazy patterns on her belly, Abby’s coos and giggles filling the air, the wrinkly sound of Jughead’s 5th bag of chips,  Kevin’s loud gasps when something dramatic happened in the movie, Toni and Cheryl’s quiet whispers, and Fangs’ uncomfortable commentary during the sex scenes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     She was surrounded by her family; her best friends, her brother, her love, and her unborn baby. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sweet Pea cocked his head at Veronica, taking note of the fact that she was staring up at him. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Nothing.” Veronica shook her head as she leaned her head back onto his chest. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>     She was glad she fell in love.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So... did you like it?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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